Christmas With Snape
by littleearstaryn
Summary: Harry has finished with Voldemort, but needs to deal with his own problems, spending time at Snape's house might just be the thing they both need. Find out what happens when Snape has to share his house with Harry. NOT SLASH but contains child abuse
1. The Potion

Disclaimer: Strangely enough this isn't mine, but reading and reviewing is much appreciated.

Christmas with Snape

"Harry! What are you doing mate" shouted Ron, my best mate. He had walked in on me cutting my neck. I turn around and stare at him, "haven't you ever seen a guy shave before?" Ron looks at me and shakes his head.

"Normally when you shave there has to be something to shave, apart from skin, which is all that you have done and now you're missing half your cheek". I give him a dirty look and put down the razor, man you would think that they would teach us a shaving spell or something, all the girls are taught how keep their legs hair free permanently, so why don't they show us blokes? Stupid sexist teachers, just because Dumbledore hasn't seen a barber since before the time of Jesus, stupid old git, the boys should do it the way we used to, my ass.

Don't know why Ron is so concerned, about me "trying to shave" there actually was a hair there, I've counted two, no one likes a hairy wizard. Though he is probably just a bit concerned about me trying to grow up, its really hard to get some identity and recognition when no one can see that you are trying to change, when Cedric Diggory started he was considered cool and grown up, I want to go from being the boy who lived, to the boy who is living. Which is incredibly hard when all that people think of when they hear the name "Harry Potter" is some dark wizard fighting enigma, not a human being.

Well you may have realised this, my name is Harry Potter and I am a student at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. I am in the seventh year and I'm doing my very best not to fail school because I want to become an auror and keep the world Dark Wizard free after we banished Voldemort a little while ago. But currently the only evil I'm battling is the evil that takes the form of Serverus Snape, the potions master and the world's oiliest, biggest prick. Here is an example of a typical potions lesson.

I enter the room, a little late, who wants to be early for potions? You have to sit there for even longer. He turns around and his smoothest most I'm-a-scary-teacher-beware-or-I'll-curse-you-back-to-the-stone-age voice turns on me. He looks in that snooty way of his at me.

"Potter, you may be stupid but I am sure even you can tell the time". Snape coolly says. 

"I'm sorry sir, but where I come from time is an allusion, it's all a plot to enslave civilization by making them obey a non-material object." I reply, trying to be smart.

"What did you say boy?" the evil one sneers in a confused way.

"Oh, I'm sorry sir, I forgot you cannot handle big words, basically I'm late because I don't like being in your room because…because...you smell funny."

Well done Potter, you really know how to keep the laughter coming, not only does the entire room think you're a try hard but you're also a boring try hard, even Hermione and Ron think you're an idiot.

Sometimes I hate my conscience, it shouldn't be allowed to talk, must find that box to stick it in before it crushes me even more.

"Potter, even for you that was lame, go and sit down before you make me vomit". Snape spat.

Begrudgingly I walk to my sit and sit next to my friends. This is when the real fun begins. My potion making isn't really that great, no that's an understatement, my potion making is enough to make a saint swear.

Snape writes up a potion on the board, add one wolfbane tooth to blood of muggle…..dunno why we have to do it but hey its school, when was the last time it had a purpose?

I start making up my potion adding the random bits of stuff left, right and centre. It's always amazed me how little safety precautions are taken in this school, I mean couldn't muggle blood be dangerous? Hello, it could have HIV or something like that; then again these smart ass magic folk can cure anything (so why am I still wearing glasses?).

Before we get too far you need to understand Snape. In the dictionary if you look up the word evil, you will see a nice picture of him, HE IS EVIL. He thinks so much about himself just because he is a potions teacher but he hasn't been able to become a Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher so he can't be that great. Oh and a small insignificant fact about him. He kind of hates my guts, just because my dad made his life miserable is no reason to be nasty to me.

So there I am, innocent as usual making up my potion. When it starts to bubble and make a funny noise, HOLY SHIT MY POTION IS SINGING and it sings worse then a cat being run over by a truck. Little stars and swirls start to take for and suddenly the screeching of my cauldron has stopped and its now singing twinkle twinkle little star. Of all the times for my magic to take on music ability, why did it have to be now? Snape is walking over, curious as to why my cauldron is singing..Finally something we agree on, as someone who has been attacked on numerous occasions by strange things, including house elf's and three headed dogs I'm an expert on weird, and my potion singing is definitely it.

Snape walks over and looks at me, straight in the eye, I can smell him he actually doesn't smell that bad, for a potions teacher.

"Potter………" he starts to say, but he doesn't get the chance to finished, because at that very moment there is an all mighty explosion and my potion/mush goes everywhere.

When I open my eyes after that all mighty bang there is a sight in front of me that will be permanently burned into my imagination, Snape is no longer Snape, he has transformed into a star, he looks like a really bad fancy dress costume and he's singing.

But over the singing there is yelling of POTTER!!! Uh oh I'm in big trouble at the moment. I look everywhere looking for an antidote, that or a phone book that can tell me where I can sell him, but we'll start with the antidote and move on. By now the entire class is looking at us and they are starting to laugh. Snape the cheap costume attempts to look threatening but fails miserably, but in his defence it is pretty hard to look scary when you're covered in glitter and are the light is reflecting off you and making you look so pretty.

Some of the smart asses in class are making comments, like "you are the light of my life" and "oh my god I'm seeing stars" stupid gits. Meanwhile all this is going on, Snape is changing colour. He's gone from quite a pretty gold to a bright red, red like a blood red ruby.

He starts to yell over the "twinkle, twinkle little star", something about what an idiot I am, well hello, I'm not the one dressed like ten year old girl. Suddenly there is a fizzing sound and a pop and Snape appears right in front of me, but gone is the happy glittery smile, all that is left is a very angry man that looks like he is going to kill me.

I turn on my heel and I run…Like you have never seen anyone run before, chased by an angry glitter covered man…. If he kills me I can safely say that this will go down as one of the most embarrassing moments of my whole entire life.

Authors Note: Will Harry escape? Or will Snape get him? Read and review!! Only way to improve a story is to get some help.

Squirt


	2. The Chase Part 1

Disclaimer: Due to good luck I now actually do own the series!!! GO ME, lies sorry, still not mine.

Authors Note: To all of you that reviewed THANKYOU, you are all very much loved and the positives are always welcomed as are the negatives. Just replying to those who didn't leave a way to reply, sorry about Dumbledore that was a bit OOC as for Snape well I like it so I'm keeping it no hard feelings thanks for the advice! And for the other comment what is 3 person? Do you mean 3rd Person? It might be changing point of view throughout the story so I'll keep that in mind thanks. For the rest of you who are not reviewing please do, it really helps a struggling wannabe author, love to the rest of you, now the story...

The Chase

Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. What have I done? I promised I would try and keep my nose out of trouble and what have I gone and done? Turned my Potions master into a star costumed freak and now he's chasing me with murderous thoughts. Great start to the day it's been, good thing I had some weetbix or I would be really stuffed after running out of the classroom, though being scared for you life does help a bit.

For all of you who think that Quidditch is a sport for the athletic elite are going to be sadly disappointed, flying around on a broom stick does not take a great deal of energy and I'm paying for it now, man my sides feel like some little elf has made its' way into my chest and is pulling my ribs apart, my heart is on fire and that's just the beginning of my problems, I've got sweat rolling down my cheeks and into my glasses, which sucks because I can't see, I really need those contacts or magical surgery to correct my useless vision. The scary thing is I have only just run out of the class.

Which way to go… in a castle as large as Hogwarts there are so many possibilities, where to go, hmm should I go left towards the Great Hall, down towards the gardens or to one of the other many random areas in this great big school, so many choices so little time "…POTTER! YOU ARE IN SO MUCH TROUBLE" yells the angry man chasing me. Uh oh better choose one of the random ones…so I run as fast as physically possible for a human because my life actually does depend on it.

I run as fast as I can and run into a broom closet, man the smell in here is going to outlive religion, who ever cleans this place should be fired, its putrid, like worse then Ron in the morning when he's gone for a run without cleaning his teeth or having shower, which for your information is a really bad smell.

Do you know those movies where they build up to a suspenseful scene by using really creepy music? It's in like every single movie and if you haven't noticed it yet you're more then a bit slow. Well at this time the school band was practising. If I wasn't so scared I was going to poop my pants, I would have laughed. Because when I was cowering behind a broom they were playing a song that would have been perfect for a cheap horror film, funny in an ironic way. Please start playing a song where the hero does actually live, like the theme from "Raider's of the Lost Ark" or another engaging and uplifting movie.

Snape was in the hall yelling out violent death threats, I never took Snape as being a violent/sadistic/cruel person but I guess being turned into a ball of glitter does that to a man. Who knows, if it gets out he might be getting an invite to the Mardi Gras as the new gay idol, he made a pretty awesome costume wearer, now that would be something I would pay to go and see, record and put on the internet, like youtube,

Well anyway back to the broom cupboard. I was sitting there as quiet as a mouse, though I'm pretty sure that the people in Norway would be able to hear my breathing and heart beating from my rather strenuous run. Looking through the hole in the door I could see what was going on around me. Suddenly I saw a rather angry dark brown eye looking at me.

You can tell a lot by a persons' eye. Their mood, personality and what they really think of you. There is a famous philosopher who once said that the eyes are the path way to the soul and I do believe they are right.

If you looked at the eye looking at me, you would have seen a number of things. A happy person was not one of them. The eye looking at me looked evil, it left Voldemort for dead. They were angry, bit of a red rim (but he might just have been getting into the vodka, being around Malfoy does that to a man). The pure anger made my blood go cold, for that one moment I could safely say I knew I was going to die. Fucking hell, I'm HARRY POTTER! The boy who has escaped Voldemort more times then you can poke a stick at. I've fought him in all dramatic places with fancy spells. Now I'm going to die by being strangled by my Potions Master in a broom closet, not quite the dignified death I was going for in my life.

But then again if you are going to die, die in a heroic way…or at least in way that will be remembered for all time. With that I burst out of the closet, knocking over a very surprised Snape in the process and sent him rolling down the stairs in the process, I winced at the sound of the thumps and the language coming out of his mouth. If Mrs Weasley was around she would wash his mouth out with soap, then for good measure use a bit of bleach.

With that I kept running hopefully looking for a safe place that wouldn't be painfully obvious for Snape. So there I am running, running, running. In a place as big as Hogwarts you would think that they would have a room designed for hiding away from your teachers. Shame the Room of Requirement isn't around because I really require a place to hide in at the moment.

Then suddenly the perfect hiding spot comes into sight. The boys change rooms. No teacher in their right mind would walk in there, the smell alone would kill you, it's that bad and as for the sight of fifty naked boys is enough to put anyone off, that's why it's the perfect place for me to go and hide in.

I ran in to the room thankful for a place to rest in and hide. Hmm, the place seems a bit different then usual, a lot cleaner, lacking urinals and has a smell of girls, some boy has either had a lucky day, needs to change his deodorant or needs to come out of the closet.

Then it dawned on me where I was, I'm in the girls change room, what kind of an idiot am I? This was not going to look good if Snape does chase me in here, Dumbledore will ask a lot of questions.

I turn around to walk out and duck into the boys when I hear the sound of people near. Uhoh, if I'm found in here I am in so much trouble, maybe not compared to what I am already in but I don't really need anything else added to my record of misconduct today but on the other hand I am in the GIRLS' change room alone. Crap their coming in. I run around frantically looking for a hiding place. Thank the lord for cleaning closets, though I'm in them quite often today. I go in and close the door just as the change room door opens and some girls walk in, now I have to remain quiet and inconspicuous, that way they'll never know I am here and we will all be happy.

I sit their trying to work out who they are by the sound of their voices. They are familiar but not ones that I hear a lot, must be a girl from Hufflepuff or something, possibly Slytherin, even thought they should be in class, we have Potions with the Slytherin's. I risk a peak and open the door a crack to peak out to check.

Oh my God I think I am permanently scarred for life, I'm going to have to remove my corneas and get a memory loss potion to get that image out of my head permanently. The girls were Pansy Parkinson and her little clique of girls.

For those of you who do not know what Pansy looks like let me explain to you using a visual picture. Imagine an overweight pig, cross it with a cow, run over its face with a train and then take to it with a sledge hammer. Then you're almost close to the level of ugly that we are dealing with here. The worst part is that she is naked, how she managed to get undressed that quickly is beyond me lever of intelligence.

So you can just imagine the agony I am going through here. But on the plus side some of her friends aren't that bad looking. But then again the shock I have just gone through is too big to be counteracted, actually I am going to faint… that's how bad it is, good by world…. And with a crash I land on the floor, so much for being quiet and inconspicuous because I am so going to be found after that.

AN: Weetbix is a cereal that is always advertised as being great for athletes here in Australia. So good, bad or just average? Tell me! Will Harry make it out alive? Will he be found by Snape? Stay tuned to this space to find out! AND REVIEW!

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Squirt


	3. The Dream

Authors' Note: To all of you who once again reviewed thanks a lot, to all of those who didn't PLEASE DO!! Sorry for the late update but hey I'm only human.

The Dream

(Basically this story is the dream that Harry has while unconscious, will say when it changes okay).

When I fainted I started to reminisce about the past times, problems and events that have made my life so incredibly painful for so long.

_Coming home one day I walked down the street till I came to my house. I knew by the hair on the back of my neck standing up that something was wrong, it was school holidays, the ones that had just gone past and I had unfortunately had to leave the Weasley's to come back "home" with the Dursley's, not my idea of a holiday._

_Uncle Vernon and I had never gotten on well. I don't remember a time when he actually had been civil to me or at least hadn't beaten the crap out of me on a regular basis. _

_I don't know why he did this to me, all I know was that for some reason he resented me, hated that my mother had some kind of hold on me, scared that I was more powerful then even I realised before I received that letter on that day. He just hated me with contempt so red hot it made the Sahara Desert look like an ice block. It was real pure hate._

_It started just with the comments, like the "your such a useless little twit" and "no wonder your parents died, they couldn't stand being around you either". Comments that really hurt and upset a young, naiive boy._

_Then as I got older the comments would have been welcomed. The first time he hit me I remember was because I broke a vase, it wasn't really a nice vase just a crappy old boring china one that you find in a second hand store for like five bucks, nothing special. But for a man who had been drinking (Vernon was a bit of a mean drunk) you would have thought I had killed the Queen or slapped Prince Charles (though come to think of it most of the world would have celebrated me) and he just went ape. He punched me so hard I lost a tooth and went unconscious. That was the day I knew that my entire life had just changed for the worst._

_I don't think Aunt Petunia knew, despite the fact that she despised me as well, I don't think she hated me enough to want to cause physical pain, emotional yes but she wasn't an evilly cruel woman. But then again maybe he used to beat up on her and the only way that she could get away from his anger was to allow him to beat up on me, or that she was just thankful it wasn't Dudly who was having the shit beaten out of him on a regular basis, who knows, I don't._

_When I got that letter from Hogwarts, I thought all my Christmases had come at once. I had, what I thought was a one way ticket out of hell. But no come the Christmas holidays again next year I was back in the firing line with the Uncle. _

_The power of depression is a strong thing. And to go from the loving warm safe hands of the Weasley's and my friends at Hogwarts was a terrible thing. So terrible the only way I could help was well, to cut my self. At first it was just spur of the moment kind of thing, didn't really mean anything but then it got serious, Only time I would stop was when I wasn't with the Dursley's. But when I was with them my thighs and wrists looked like someone had taken to me with a knife, which realistically was true, only it wasn't a someone, it was me doing that to myself. _

_Deeper and deeper the cuts would go, blood would spill like tears in Titanic, and it was everywhere. Being a wizard it was easy to hide them, so I didn't have to use lame excuses like "I don't know how that got their" or "I break out in deep cuts when I eat peanuts". I could just hide them through the limited magic I had I could use out of school without being caught. That or I would steal Aunt Petunias' make up and hide them either way I never got caught until one day…_

_This was to be my darkest hour, one that only haunts me in my dreams, one I never want to talk about the one that changed me from being a good school boy into the obey no rules madman you see know. _

_I had just started shaving, it was difficult actually no wonder men always cut themselves its pretty easy to do. This was last year, just before we went on holidays I got a letter from the Dursley's saying that I would be coming home to them the whole time as the Weasley's were not able to take me. I didn't say anything to Ron at dinner, not wanting him to see how hurt and upset I was after not being able to go to my best friends place. He didn't know why I loved going there, he knew I didn't like the Dursley's but he didn't know the whole reason why. _

_That night I had dreams, dreams that scared me, I must have died more then twenty times, in twenty different equally scary ways, but everyone seemed real, even the one where I was grated on a cheese greater and eaten on toast by Vernon. _

_That morning I woke up and went to go for a shave, I was the last one up. For some reason, looking at my tired red rimmed eyes was too much for this boy and I started to cry weeping and wailing like a banshee in such a way it was almost embarrassing. Then I picked up my razor and started to slash at my neck. The pain hurt but I felt the blood pouring down my neck, flowing away and taking my troubles with it. But with each trouble flowing away in a red stream of sadness a new one was replaced. So I kept slashing, until I collapsed in my very own red sea. _

_When you faint you can not move, speak or even look like you know what is happening but your aware of everything around you. I could here the tap dripping almost in time with my blood and I also heard the cry for help when Ron came in to see "what was taking me so bloody long". I was taken to Madame Pomfrey and seen to put back together and healed like I had nothing more then a paper cut. _

_I spent five days denying anything was wrong, just saying I had slipped amd cut my throat but that was not even slightly believed by Dumbledore. I had my thoughts extracted and Dumbledore sore it all. I was packed off to see the shrink after a very long and scary talk with aged wizard._

_Talking to the shrink helped, what helped even more was that Vernon was "spoken" to by Sirius. In a way that no man would ever forget. I can't leave their house till I am old enough but at least when I go back next time I will be safe, but still to be honest I would rather have Christmas with Snape then spend my holiday with them. _

_(Harry wakes up)_

I started to stir, hereing voices around me, where am I? They were girl voices all of them, then it all came rushing back to me as Pansy put her face near mine, crap I am screwed was the first thing that went through my head as I hurredley thought up an excuse…

Authors Note: Yes this was a bit darker then I had intened it to be but does it make Harry more three dimensional? Next one should be a lot more humourous (if you call it humour). But just repeating please read and review and tell me what you like and don't like, and don't ignore the story because of this chapter, it wont be happening a lot this kind of thing. Thanks and much love to you all.

Information Systems


	4. The Chase Part 2

Disclaimer: Still not mine.

The Chase Part II

Think Harry think, we need a reason as to why we are in the girls bathroom, unconscious, not in potions, why Snape looks like a cheap Halloween costume for a five year old girl and why he wants to kill me. Granted the last one can be explained with the second last one but it sounds more impressive if I list as many problems as I can…

Pansy looked at me with a look of curiosity, that or she had gas. Then started screaming at me, something about being a pervert, come on pervert? Normally a pervert goes looking to be excited and not to be temporarily blinded and almost killed. In fact you shouldn't be threatening me with law suits and jinxes, oh and your going to set Malfoy on me? Wow now I am really scared. You should be worried that I am going to have you arrested for something like attempted murder.

Malfoy that a laugh, there is little to nothing up in his brain oh and by the way Pansy he doesn't even like you, probably the only thing that he and I agree on would be that your disgusting, who knows he might even ask for my help in removing you from existence and thus meaning he is not going to be forced to marry you.

Oh crap, Snape is outside, now knowing that greasy git he's too much of a prude to come into the girls bathroom and get me out himself, he probably has never even seen a girl naked, well actually he might of but I don't think walking in on his mother having a shower when he was five really counts. So therefore I am safe, unless Pansy and her army of she-beasts carry me out.

Well it looks like I have spoken to soon, Snape is in here with me and he is dragging me out of the girls bathroom by my ear. But ha-ha Pansy is in trouble as she should have been in Potions not ditching class. But then again it probably isn't a good idea to be laughing at someone else when I am about to be removed from the gene pool permanently.

Snape looked at me and smiled, the way a shark looks at a diver right before it bites off its leg. (if this was a movie it would have that Jaws music going on)

"Did you really think you could escape me Potter? You're just like your father, a completely useless and disrespectful little urchin." Snape drawled in that nasty sneering way of his.

"I'm sorry sir, please don't feed me to the sharks!" Obviously when I fainted I bumped my head because I am making less sense then normal.

"I wouldn't do that to a poor shark, Potter we are off to see Dumbledore and there is nothing you can do about it, I have had enough of your constant haywired behaviour its time we solve this problem, detention has not worked maybe expulsion will do the trick."

Well that's one way to make an already mentally disturbed boy really upset at the thought of leaving the only home he has ever had in this world.

Got to think of a way out of this, but what can I do? Suddenly one of those light bulbs you see in cartoons went off in my head. I stamped on Snape foot as hard as I could, in pain he jumped and immediately let go of my rather sore ear and with a flash I was running as fast as I could.

If I was in the muggle world this would have been one of the best escape plans in the history of making escaped from greasy gits who have anger problems. But this being the wizarding world the normal rules do not apply.

For as soon as I was about ten metres away from Snape I heard a VERY loud and yell of "Stupefy!" Then I was down for the count again for the second time in the last twenty minutes. Obviously the greasy git has worked out finally how to use his wand.

When your stunned its almost like being paralysed everything around you is moving, your aware of what is going on but there is no way in which to move or get away. So Snape took his time walking over to me and peering down with a smile. I could almost read his thoughts, I have done what you-know-who has only dreamed of, had the Potter boy at my mercy.

With a heave he picked me up and, he is quite strong our Snape as I am no light weight and took me off in the direction of Dumbledore's office, presumably to see if he could get rid of me before lunch.

Snape is not what you would call a very careful person, he took a lot of delight in banging my head against everything that we came passed. But after about five minutes he must have gotten tired of carrying me around and dumped me very unceremoniously on the floor, I hit the deck with a rather loud thud.

"Your quite a heavy little one aren't you Potter? Obviously those muggles of yours are fans of MacDonald's". Snape sneered at me.

I honestly have know idea what he was complaining about, if he had tried to have lifted Pansy Parkinson, he would have snapped his spine like a twig, a problem Madame Pomfrey can not fix with a spot of Skelo-Gro and when he dumped on the ground there is no way the castle would still be standing.

I am also not fat, teenage boys who do sport, even if it is Quidditch and eat the healthy balanced diet we have here at Hogwarts are not really in a postion to get fat.

I glared at him and tried to think of an insult against this man. But it's very hard to make a joke about someone's weight when they are in tip-top physical position. All the girls think that while he is a pain in the butt he has definitely got the best body out of the staff at Hogwarts. But then it's not really easy to lose, he is after all competing against men like Filch, Dumbledore and Flitwick. If he wasn't the best I would be upset for him.

We sat in silence and I could gradually feel the ability of movement coming back into my body slowly and surely. When I was almost moving like a normally person Snape said "come on then I have wasted enough of my precious time on you, to Dumbledore's Office is our destination. I walked slowly besides Snape, getting the occasional glare and threat of being jinxed of the face of this planet. Snape probably wouldn't do that but with what he has being doing lately I don't want to provoke him to do any harm to me.

Getting to Dumbledore's Snape said the magic password of "Every Flavour Beans" and we were in, on our way to go and get his mess sorted out once and for all.

"Who's there?" called Dumbledore. Snape replied saying "is Professor Snape and Potter". Dumbledore called us in and gave that usual warm smile he always gave me. Wonder if Snape gets treated this way.

"What seems to be the problem"? Dumbledore said with a smile that said that he knew more then what we knew…..To Be Continued.

A/N: So like it? Hate it? Let me know! Check out my other Harry Potter fanfic that really a songfic and is different to my usual style. Send in reviews please as they keep me happy and the will to produce more, so if you want to see this story kept going REVIEW and chapters will be done a lot quicker. Much Love.

Information Systems


	5. In Dumbledore's Office

To all of you wonderful people who are still reading this..either out of guilt or just because you're really bored thanks heaps! Just keep reviewing and you will keep me smiling. Oh and it's still not mine

In Dumbledore's Office

Snape and I glared at each other, the look on Snape's face looked like he wanted nothing more then to go up to Dumbledore and throw a great big temper tantrum like the five year old down the street from me and start screaming at Dumbledore saying "he started it, it's not my fault…" you get the picture.

But instead he calmly looked at Dumbledore and said "we have a problem Albus, actually the boy has a problem, he is to say, for those that are not very high in the intelligence scale" glaring at me with a smirk, "a pain in the butt who is constantly usurping my authority and disrupting my lessons, I would like either the permission to body bind him and string him from the roof like a piñata or have him removed from my classroom. The way his scores are going in potions anyway, if he didn't do the tests and exams he would probably get a better mark, he is far from a gifted student".

I looked down at my feet in embarrassment, feeling my face go red and hot. He was right, I was always a shocking potion maker, enough to make a strong man cry. I looked up wanting to ask if I could actually try this new plan and how much he reckon that it would improve my percentage but when I looked up the look on Dumbledore's face kept me quiet, I know it's a new thing.

Dumbledore looked at Snape for a little while and asked "Serverus, please forgive me but why are you covered in glitter and why are you robes pink?'

Snape looked at me, if looks could kill I would be pushing up daisies as well as any dynamic lifter would in fertile gardens. Snape looked at Dumbledore and in a very stiff tone and said "there was a slight accident, about sixteen years ago when Lily fell pregnant and gave birth to that boy…". Dumbledore looked at Snape, amused and said "I see".

He looked at me and gravely turned to me and said "what do you have to say about this Mr Potter"?.

I look up and take a deep breath. I start to talk, "Dumbledore I had no intention of being a problem this year, as you are aware of I have had a tough year and have gone a little bit over the edge….."

Snape interrupted me and started yelling at Dumbledore "you can not seriously be taking that seriously professor? I will definitely agree the boy is mentally unstable, it must come from a father who was a lose canon, a God-father who was a bully and a run away convict and a family friend who is nothing more then a vicious were wolf"!

It was then I saw red. "How dare you, you pompous greasy git, how can you insult my father, just because you had no friends or even someone that liked you is no reason to say nasty things. How can you call my Sirius a bully? You are the one who makes Neville want to cry despite how hard he tries? As for Lupin, you are no more then a vicious creature yourself and your not even fit to be in a zoo, they don't normally take things that abnormal and dangerous into a zoo, you hideous enough to make all the kids cry."

With that pathetic out burst I sat down, not wanting to say anything more. We sat in a stony silence, a silence that was so thick that it could have been cut with a knife.

"Harry please continue".

"Well it was nothing more then an accident, I actually didn't mean to turn Snape pink and glittery and starfish shaped, it just kind of ended that way, but just so you know sir pink really isn't your colour, it makes you look kind of splotchy, wrong like gothic Barbie doll."

Snape glared at me and opened his mouth, ready to rip me to shreds. I don't think he knew what a Barbie doll was but the name itself was insulting.

"Well" Dumbledore said, jumping in before I was exterminated like the dodos, "I think we have some problems that we need to clear up here. Harry is there a reason you can not get along with Professor Snape?"

I looked up at him and thought about it. "I dunno Sir, it just seems like a thing that's always going to be a problem. I just don't like him sir". Snape looked at me and I could see he felt the same way about me, he also did not like me one bit.

"Professor Snape, is there anything that you think might have helped this young man in his development?" Dumbledore asked politely.

Snape looked at him and with smirk said "a decent father figure would not have done him any harm, who knows he might even have turned out as a decent human being".

Dumbledore smiled at him and with a triumphant air announced " I am glad you feel that way, it's exactly how I feel, and he would definitely be different if he had had a decent family life from childhood. That is why I am placing Harry in your care for the Christmas break and that way you can prove that a strong father figure is exactly what Mr Potter needs."

Snape looked at him with a flabbergasted expression, mouth open so wide a train could have gotten through quite easily. A point I would have really loved to have proved by throwing the Hogwarts' Express at his arrogant pig headed face.

"There is no way you can make me take care of that boy, I don't want anything to do with him during the school term let alone have him inside my house during the holidays when I can be free from all these painful pests. I am not taking him and that is final."

Dumbledore looked at him, "you have no choice, and one of your conditions of employment is to help the students to reach their potential. If you don't you are in breach of your employment here and can not go on as potion's master."

"This is blackmail" Snape said.

"No this is thinking smart and getting to difficult men to get along and solve a problem that has been plaguing me for so long."

"There is no way this is going to work, do you really think this is a good idea? Thought you cared about this Potter boy, don't you want him to live, he might well, come to a sticky end at my place."

Dumbledore laughed "I am sure a man of your calibre can handle one teenaged boy, now would you please leave? Harry you will be going home with Snape, think of it as broadening your horizons."

Snape and I walked out, I could feel the anger radiating off him. "This is all your fault" looking at me.

I looked at him just as venomously "look if you really think I want to go to your house you have got rocks in your head I would rather kiss a blast ended skrewt."

"Well it looks like we have no choice in the matter, our winter plans have been made for us. When you get off the train wait for me, I will deal with you then. Now get out of my sight before I jinx you back to when Christ was a boy."

To be continued.

Authors Note: Sorry that wasn't exactly the most interesting chapter ever written in the history of fanfiction but I promise the next one will be good (hopefully) once again press the review button and give a girl some praise.

Oh and those who were confused as to why there was Macdonald's mentioned, Macdonals is taking over the world, I am sure there is even a Macca's in Hogsmeade but its probably called McMagic or something like that.

Until next time adios.

Information Systems


	6. It Sucks To Be Me

As you asked here is the next chapter, thought you would like another instalment sooner rather then later so I have ditched my homework have gone to write some more of this story. ENJOY and still keep reviewing.

It Sucks' to be me

In the space of one day I have gone from feeling invincible to feeling like the earth has collapsed around me and I have only just found out, its not really a good feeling just so you all know. I never new that when I woke up this morning that eight hours later I would be facing my worst nightmare: Spending two months with my worst nightmare.

I walk down the corridor towards the great hall, it's almost dinner time. The statues and gargoyles look at me and I can see them smile, well at least they are amused. A portrait comes into sight and it's that of a clown or a jester. Great as if I do not feel bad enough I have to deal with something that thinks it's funny, I hurry past trying to avoid eye contact but it's too late and the brightly coloured fellow looks at me beaming.

"HARRY POTTER!!!" It giggles loudly looking at me. "Why the long face? It's not like your having a bad day or anything? Come on you'll enjoy your little excursion to Snapes' house think of it as broadening your horizons" He said snidely, imitating the way Dumbledore had said it. "Anyway it isn't like its going to be painful, he'll kill you nice and quickly you won't even time to scream at him or even turn him pink. Though since you going I might as well give you some advice, I know all of this because it's happened before and we portraits have ears everywhere so you can believe me…"

With that I pulled of the portrait and turned it around, facing the annoying little man into the wall, geez everyone just wants to poke fun at me today don't they? Like today isn't bad enough, I'm getting mocked by half a litre of coloured water paint.

I went to the Great Hall, hoping to get stuck into something tasty and eat away my worries. I sat down next to Ron and Hermione. They both looked at me with open mouths, surprised to see me alive I guess.

"Blimey Harry", Ron gasped "Your still in one piece, we were taking bets in Potions when Snape chased after you as to how many pieces you would be in and how long Madame Pomfrey would be nursing you back to one piece. Seamus wins, he said that you would be killed by a jinx that would you're your death look like an accident so you would be in one piece, great thanks Harryi, I owe him a sickle….but what you did was absolutely fantastic, I have never laughed in all my life so hard at one thing, if I had one of those muggle picture taking things I would have loved to have gotten a picture of it that was fantastic…."

"RON!" Hermione exclaimed, "how could you say such a thing, not only did he humiliate a respected teacher but he was also found perving on some wagging Slytherin girls in the bathroom! How are you going to explain that to Dumbledore without being expelled?"

Man I really love my friends. Ron, a true bloke at heart, always supportive and interested and admiring, never finds fault in what I do, in fact he normally condones it. Then there is Hermione, true she is a good person and I love her like my sister, but she is also a lot like a piranha fish, she bites constantly and will not leave you alone, she strips you bare until there is nothing but a skeleton. Her ways could almost make a saint swear.

"Well here is what really happened". I'm going to have some fun with this. "When Snape chased me out of the classroom I ran down the passageway, Snape tried to do the same kind of manoeuvre but because of his stuffed hip, apparently he is quite old he has broken a hip. I then had to come back, out of the pure goodness of my own heart and levitated the fat old sod to Pomfrey. She then worked her magic and literally within about two seconds he was up and running."

"He chased me around the hospital wing, throwing needles and stuff at me". I thought they only had needles in muggle hospitals where the doctors are paid based on how many patients they get to scream in pure agony. "But due to my endurance I ran out past him and…"

"Harry shut up and give us the real version before I jinx you back to the Stone Age", Hermione said. They way things are going, with me getting jinxed further and further back in history by tomorrow I'll be seeing the Creation or Adam and Eve, depending on who's theory of evolution you believe in.

"Ok, Ok I'm sorry". There are many ways to argue with a woman and each one will get your head bitten off.

"Well you know how it started off in the classroom. Then he just chased me out and I took refuge in a cupboard, was found so I ran into a bathroom. Now Hermione don't freak, I never meant to run into the girls' bathroom, I never realised, but as they say, any port in a storm."

"As I went in and realised, the lack of urinals is a big clue and those funny looking boxes, I have always meant to ask you Hermione what are they for?"

The look on Hermione's' face was hilarious, in the space of a microsecond she went from being a healthy pink colour to a red that resembled a fire engine.

"Anyway", not really giving her a chance to say anything, I had a good idea what they where there for and I didn't want to spoil my appetite thinking of things like that.

"When I was hiding in their Pansy and her friends walked in, now I am serious I never meant to look at that, but you know when you see a car crash or in you case Ron a broomstick accident", Hermione smiled in a bemused way and Ron looked confused as usual. "You can not bear to look away, no matter how gory and disgusting the sight is? Well that's how I felt when I looked at Pansy, I bet when her mum gave birth to her the doctor slapped the mum for giving birth to natural distaster, the Titanic has nothing on the birth of Pansy Parkinson when it comes to the world's biggest blunders.

"Well I was so shocked by what I saw I fainted, right on the spot, never been so permanently mortified in all my life, in fact I think I am going to need to disinfect my inner eye and pray that it has not been damaged indefinitely."

"Snape heard the girls screams, apparently he is not perturbed from foul sights, he didn't have a seizure at the sight of the fat lard, must come from looking at himself in the mirror. He took me to Dumbledore's Office and well one thing lead to another and it seems like I am going to be living with Snape over the Christmas break.'

"Your bloody joking aren't you Harry?" questioned Ron, "There is no way Dumbledore would commit such a crime against you, and he is meant to look after you!"

"Well from what I can work out this is just one of Dumbledore's schemes to make Snape and I get along well with each other and put aside this constant dilemma with Snape and I constantly at each other throats."

With that I looked up and saw the evil one himself coming into the Great Hall. Now if my life was a movie and theme music accompanied things that happened, right now the audience would be hearing the music from Star Wars, Darth Vader's Theme, the bah bah bah bah ba-bah, bah ba-bah music. Then his eyes would go red and there would be a close up of my agonised expression filled with dread.

But anyway I survived Snape's Look and finally piled my plate full of food, but just thinking about how I am going to be spending my break with that man did nothing more then make me want to be sick.

After dinner we walked out, off to go to bed, when who should I see but my favourite person in the whole entire world, Draco Malfoy, if life was a bitch before, then it just had puppies, one called Malfoy and that is one son-of-a-bitch.

"Hello Potter, sleeping over at Snape's house are we? Don't your little mudblood relatives want to see your pathetic little face anymore, I can see why your depressed, if I had to wake up and see you in the mirror I would be upset as well."

I just looked at him, fuming in the inside. "If you were me Malfoy, the world would be a great place as there would be one less asshole in the world."

"You keep telling yourself that Potter, because you know it sucks to be you at the moment".

I hate it when he is right, the little ferret has finally said something that makes sense, it does suck to be me.

Authors Note: Well what you guys think of that one? I am so in love with all you guys, the ones that are favouriting me and this story as well as reviewing you are absolutely the best people around and I promise that the next chapter will be the best you have seen in quite sometime. I am still not sure what the genre for this fic is either, I have tried a couple and nothing seems right, PLEASE HELP!! Also I am working on my songfic but I don't know what song to use, any ideas I would love for the song and I will definitely thank whoever it is that suggests it!! Once again much love to you all and keep reviewing Taryn xox

Information Systems


	7. Snape's Thoughts

Hey guys, sorry this was meant to be out last week but my stupid computer had so many viruses they were destroying each other. But here is a nice, longer then usual chapter to keep you happy!

The Train Ride

**CHANGE OF PERSPECTIVE!**

Snape was preparing for the long train ride back home. He could not believe what Dumbledore had just done. He knows that he hates Harry, more then Bush hates Bin Laden. What was the point of this anyway? Was it just some kind of sick experiment, or did Dumbledore really have something that he wanted to get out of him and Harry? All he knew was that he wasn't looking forward to the next three months.

He didn't have kids, he didn't even like children, he could not believe that he was meant to be spending the only time that he had alone, with a boy that he couldn't stand the site of.

He didn't want to bring the boy back to his house, it was the only thing that he felt safe in. Everywhere else that he had ever been to was full of bad memories and pain. His house, where he lived with his parents at Spiner's End was equally full of pain.

His parents Tobias and Eileen while they were good people, were far from good parents. He remembered coming home one day, he was only about six or seven, and he had just won a gold star at his muggle primary school (he went because his father made him)for a spelling competition where he had earned a hundred percent.

He came rushing into the kitchen to see his parents arguing, something which was fairly normal in his house but this time it was different. His mother was screaming, crying absolutely hysterically and she was bleeding. His father was in a fit of rage and by the looks of it his father had just beaten the crap out of his mother.

Suddenly Severus's good mood was gone. Tobias looked at his small son trembling in the doorway of the kitchen, not sure what to say, half way between running out of the house and finding a safe place to hide or rushing up to his mother and seeing if she was alright.

Tobias looked at him, "What are you looking at boy?", the domineering figure said.

Snape looked up, eyes full of fear and lip trembling looked at his cowering mother. She smiled at him and asked "how was your day today Sev?".

Snape answered as politely and calmly as he could, trying to contain the overwhelming fear that was cascading out of him. "It was a good day mum, I earned a gold star in a spelling bee, it was all right!".

Tobias spat in disgust. "Your pathetic you are, a spelling bee? What good is that and looking at you crying in the corner, over your mother and I having a peaceful discussion, you really are quite a disgrace to this family".

Snape felt his bottom lip start to tremble again. He tried to hold it in, he knew crying just made his father angrier. But the emotions overpowered him and it was like the flood gates had just opened and he was crying.

His father layed into, hitting him constantly, around the head, back and forwards Snape's head moved as he moved with the force that was being put onto his tiny young head. He sensed he consciousness slipping away, he was used to that now though, and it was just a normal day at home with his parents.

Snape was never sure what he did that infuriated his father so much, they had never related well, even now he avoided his father, both his parents in fact, his mother was up in Saint Mungos', she thought she was Crumple Horned Snorkack or something, obviously that Lovegood man had gotten to her. His father he was always estranged from and he knew that they would never reconcile, Snape didn't want to and he was sure that Old Man Snape did not give a damn about his son.

Then there was school, he had always had dreams of going to school, being the most popular boy in class with lots of friends, friends that would invite him back to their house during the holidays so he wouldn't have to go back to the hell hole he called his home.

But that dream was more then dashed, he didn't have any friends, he was the constant butt of joked from his class mates, especially James Potter and his bunch of ruffians. All that Snape wanted was just one friend, he would of given anything in the world to become friends or even more then friends with Lily Evans, a muggle but a nice and pretty muggle, but she ended up with Potter, any thing that he wanted, that bastard could get.

James was everything that Snape wished he could have been, bold and popular, good with Quidditch and could have any girl that he wanted, apart from Lily who seemed to be the only one who had sense. Despite what James did to him, Snape would go to bed at night for the first couple of weeks wishing he could be just like James Potter, good looking, popular, loved by the girls, he wanted the works, but he would never get that.

He remembered one of his encounters with James, he was studying down by the lake, it was a cold Autumns day, not really a time when anyone wanted to be outside alone, but it was a place where Snape was happy to be, he didn't have to think about how awkward it felt sitting alone in the Slytherin common room apart from all the other that were smiling and having a good time.

He was sitting there working on an assignment, that and day dreaming one of his fantasies where he scored Lily and James and all his cronies came round to Snape wanting to be his friend because he had obtained the unattainable: Lily Evans.

He heard some voices from behind him a little way away and he looked over his shoulder to see James and Sirius Black, his other least favourite person came walking past. Snape tried to look invisible, he had had enough for one day of being teased and called "Snivellus", a name that James knew he hated.

Then the talking stopped, Snape swore under his breath silently, realising that he had been sighted, obviously even when you were a wizard you could not just pretend to be invisible, not to self learn how to transfigure one's self into a weird he thought wryly to himself (believe it or not wryly is a word, look it up and expand you knowledge of English).

"Well, well, well, what have we do we have here Sirius?", asked James.

"It seems we have found ourselves a grease ball", what do you think we should do with it"? Replied Sirius.

With a smirk and a comment of "watch this" James picked up his wand and shouted out _Wingardium leviosa _and within a second poor Snape was in the air, he had barely had a chance to say anything on the arrival of the two boys.

"PUT ME DOWN!" screamed Snape, in a high pitched terrified voice, he hated heights and didn't like the fact that his life was in the hands of his most hated person.

"Oh look it squeaks like a little girl!", sneered James. "Do you reckon his voice will ever break? Probably not, " James answering his own question said, "it only happens in boys and this is about as far away from being male as you can get."

Snape was squealing as James waved him around in the air, Snape looked like he was on his very own roller coaster ride.

"What are you doing put him down!", a voice from behind the two bullies screamed out, it was Lily. "What are you two bullies doing? What has he ever done to you?"

"Well if you say so I'll put him down doll face" James replied.

With a splash Snape landed in the ice cold Lake.

Lily rushed over to him, to comfort him rushed over to see if he was okay. Snape, embarrassed that the girl he loved had just seen him be bullied pushed her away.

"What are you doing Lily? I had it all under control I didn't need a girl to come and save me". Snape said, replying to the taunts of James and Sirius making up joked between them about Snape being the blushing damsel in distress and having to be rescued by Lily.

Snape finished that memory with a cringe, it still made him all hot and flustered when he thought about that moment and how hurt Lily had been when he hadn't thanked her, it still made him sad to think how he treated her, shunning her and getting mad at her, he wasn't mad at her though, just mortified and embarrassed that she had to see him so out of control and at the mercy of those two thugs. Thank God school was all part of the past now.

It was only when he finally left school and bought his own place did he finally have a place that was safe, it was his as well. It was full of things that he was interested in, there was no whinging mother about what a disaster his bedroom was or anything like that, it was just pure solitude and he loved every second he was there.

Now that one last sanctuary that he had was to be destroyed by this Potter boy. What he hated most about Potter was that the two were so alike, neither had had a good children, parents that loved them were completely out of the picture, Snape's as they didn't really care and Potter's because they were dead, both had had problems with depression, he knew about Potter's problem with the Dursely's but it wasn't something that really affected them and were also kind of outsiders amongst their peers, only difference being that Potter at least was accepted and had a few close friends, Snape had no one, he still had no one.

What was he meant to do with the Potter boy anyway? Have good heart to heart chats about how much he hated and despised his father? Or about how much was uncontrollably in love with his mother?

He had always thought he had a chance with Lily, Lily was always nice to him, she talked to him and was always sweet and the best thing was, she hated James Potter, she thought he was nothing more then an egotistic, loud mouthed boy with nothing between his ears.

The Lily changed, she started to see Snape as being cruel and unsociable, from his attempts of getting back at James and started thinking that James was one of the hottest boys around, she eventually succumbed to James Potter wanting her even more badly then she had despised him. When that transformation happened Snape knew he had lost Lily forever, things would never be the same again, that was the day that probably hurt the most, almost as much as the day that she was so brutally killed.

What was he going to do, he had a bad feeling about this arrangement of Dumbledore's, was it him or Harry that would be the first to die? And more importantly when? He was sure that the teaching staff were placing bets on how long it would take until the aurors' were called in stop one or both of them being obliterated into the next dimension.

The students were already talking, he was the laughing stock of the entire school, and those bloody Weasley had been putting up posters around the school saying "Need a place to stay for the holidays? Hotel Snape is now taking reservations and you even get a servant!" underneath that caption was a picture of Snape in house elf clothing looking very sorry for himself.

Eventually he finished packing his trunk of all of the things that he would need for the trip home, now all that he needed to do was to tell the Dursley's where the unloved nephew was going and get all of those noisy students off onto the train, it was almost time to leave.

He picked up the letter and re-read it, making sure it was not going to look like this was something that was happening because Snape wanted it to happen and that he would be getting the boy ever holiday, if he did, he would go and become a hermit.

_Dear Mr and Mrs Dursley_

_I have the duty of taking your nephew, Harry Potter, home for these holidays as it is the wish of Albus Dumbledore, the Headmaster at Hogwarts School for Witch Craft and Wizardry. He will be coming home as usual for the next terms holidays as this is not a permanent arrangement. If this is going to be a disadvantage to you and you would prefer that Harry to spend the Christmas break with you please do not hesitate to tell me and I will send him right on his way, his absence will in no way upset me. _

_Sincerely_

_Severus Snape, Potions Master at Hogwarts. _

With a smile, it seemed obvious enough that he did not want him he attached the letter to a waiting and owl and sent it on the way. He prayed "God, I know we have not spoken in awhile, but I have been told that you are kind and would not want one of your children to be miserable, if that is so, please have a letter returning saying that they want him back".

As much as he doubted that would ever happen, Dumbledore he believed would be greater then God himself, would never let that happen.

With a sigh he picked up his trunk and started to herd his lazy Slytherin's who had not packed to their dormitories to start.

By now you should know the drill REVIEW PLESE!! It makes me very happy and encourages me to write, so please do it. Till next time adios amigos.


	8. The Train Ride

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The Train Ride

Harry was in the dormitory packing to go to Snape's house. He wasn't sure what he needed, he had the usual, clothes, underwear, books, stuff like that, but he was also considering packing pepper spray or at least some of the new Anti-Snape spray that Fred and George were selling, if it was meant to be mocking him, he wasn't sure but apparently they were making a killing amongst the first years, Snape obviously wasn't to popular in that age group. Only good thing was that was going to come out of this was that he would be able to test the spray, George had been saying as a sales pitch that to test their product, if Harry came back alive it was proof that the spray worked. He was under strict instructions not to die as that would cause a drastic drop in sails. Should he be offended about his friends only caring if he survived for commercial reasons?

He had other questions as well, would the muggle police or at least the Secret Service be able to reach him in time before Snape tried to slit his throat and hang out his insides on the clothesline? Would there be any hope at all that he would be able to come back to Hogwarts in one piece? Would he have to see Snape in pyjamas? He would rather face a dragon then see Snape in pyjamas, he imagined him in pink fluffy pyjamas with a night cap on with his greasy hair in rollers, the way Aunt Petunia looks when she goes to bed. He laughed at the thought, his mind wandered onto a more sobering image. Snape walking towards Harry in a night shirt with a slogan saying "I like my students, I like them on toast with a side of bacon", he shivered seeing himself on a silver platter with an apple in his mouth, he really should stop eating junk food, it didn't seem to be doing his mental health any good.

The only good thing about going to Snape's house was that he wouldn't have to go back to the Dursley's and deal with Vernon. There is always a silver lining to every cloud and it looks like he just found it. He might actually come back to school with out having been nearly half killed.

As he packed the last of his stuff into his trunks he took it down the stairs, it was time to start taking it up to the hall, where the house elf's would deal with it and when he arrived at the Station he would have his trunk and be able to leave.

He met Ron in the common room also with his trunk.

"Thought you were too busy moping to pack" Ron said smiling, putting away the magazine he had been reading.

"Yeah did do a lot of moping, thinking about ways I can get out of this, but I also had quite an interesting thought about what Snape would look like in his pyjamas, he resembled my Aunt Petunia" Harry replied.

"Oh God Harry I only just had breakfast I don't want to bring it up again, have some respect for your fellow man". Ron said, going green and looking like he was going to vomit, obviously he had though of Snape in some lingerie like a supermodel would wear, can you imagine Snape in frilly undies and a bra?

Later on in the day he boarded the train and took a seat with Ron and Hermione. They sat their talking, talking about what they would be doing on the holidays and organising a time when they could meet up. Their plans for kidnapping Harry ranged from the semi reasonable- Harry goes down to the shops and never comes back, Hermione's idea naturally, to the down right the down right stupid- Harry buying a dragon and putting it in Snape's bed, letting it eat him and then hiding the dragon pooh in the forbidden forest, guess who's idea that was.

But Harry thought, at least Ron's stupid ideas keep us amused and lighten the atmosphere, it's true, if there is a God he created him purely for my amusement.

They were sitting in a compartment on the train when the Grease Ball himself comes past.

"Well Potter it seems that this is our last hour of freedom. When we get to the train station you are not to mess around, my time is money and I refuse to hang around while you play with your little friends, do I make myself clear?" Said Mr Sunshine himself.

Harry just looked at him and scowled, he was so not in the mood to have that man bursting into his last hour of freedom and reminding him that the worst moment of his life is still to come.

Snape walked off, pleased that he had once again, had just had the last say against Harry Potter, obviously Voldemort wasn't trying hard enough, it was just a sulky teenage boy that he was dealing with.

Eventually the train pulled into the station, this is it Harry thought this is the end of my life, goodbye cruel world! He thought to himself and in a second of melodrama his whole life flashed before his eyes, unlike Babs in the movie "Chicken Run" it was definitely not boring (A/N: for those of you who have not seen Chicken Run you should it's an awesome movie). It's a bit hard to have a boring life when you have been constantly pursued by the most evil person of all time, lived with an uncle like Vernon and found out you were wizard, if you still are able to get bored after all that there is something seriously wrong with you.

Harry walked towards the train door, ready to depart, walking slowly like a snail, he was in absolutely on hurry to go anywhere. Head bowed down he walked straight into Malfoy, just when he though life couldn't get any worse he hits the jackpot.

"Watch where you're going you filthy little wannabe wizard" Malfoy spat, "I'm going to have to sell the robes and bathe in disinfectant after coming in contact with you".

Harry sneered, "Well a shower sure as hell wouldn't do any damage and selling the robe would be a good idea, invest in a brain, oh woops I'm so sorry, I heard you did get a brain transplant, but it rejected you, how sad."

"How dare you!" Malfoy said, "You are so lucky people say that you are to emotionally delicate to be verbally assaulted or I would have your head as a trophy on my wall, how is the depression going anyway? Had any more "fights" with your uncle? We all know your just getting beaten up by some pathetic five year old."

Harry saw red, he hated Malfoy so much and poking fun at something that really hurt him inside really made and making it so obvious to everyone watching him, he didn't even know how the little weasel knew about his problems.

With that Harry jumped onto Malfoy and started punching him. Yelling, kicking and strangling him, all he wanted to do was cause the greatest amount of pain physically possible, he didn't want to use his wand, this was personal and magic would not do the trick, though he did have dreams about turning him into a snail and sending him to a French Restaurant where he could be purged, stuffed and eaten, not a pleasant way to die.

He had been pummelling the living day lights out of Malfoy for a good twenty seconds when a rough hand pulled him by the back of the shirt, a gruff angry voice, a voice he recognized, especially the angry "Potter! Unhand Malfoy".

Harry was pulled roughly from Malfoy and thrown onto the floor. A choking Malfoy, gagging at his first taste of oxygen in quite awhile was lying on the floor rolling around clutching to his throat acting like he was going to asphyxiate some time in the near future.

"What the hell are you doing Potter? Is there something wrong with you? Do you honestly think that throttling someone like Malfoy looks good for you?"

"No, but it does make me feel better, therapist says its catharsis" Harry snapped back.

"Professor why do pure bloods like me have to deal with insignificant little half bloods like Potter? It is plain to see that he is not mentally stable and I should not have to put up with people like him". Malfoy rasped, angry at being almost strangled by Harry.

With that Harry was thrown aside and pushed towards Hermione and Ron. The three and the rest of the train walked out of the station and through the barrier of Platform Nine ¾ towards the barrier to get out and go home.

Then Harry saw him, but what was he doing here, Harry knew that Vernon had been told he wasn't going to his house but home with Snape so why was he here waiting for Harry.

Vernon walked up to Harry, more like angrily stalked up towards the boy.

"How dare you forge a note and try to trick us that you are going to a teacher's house? Do you honestly think that you can fool us into going to live with that pitiful magical moron?" Vernon yelled, possibly referring to Ron.

"There is no way in hell are you leaving this house and going out, to do God knows what and disgracing my family name, I will not have it, so therefore there is no way in hell will you under any circumstances be living with that red headed freak!" Vernon yelled again, definitely referring to Ron.

"What! You have to be joking" Harry yelled back, "I would almost rather go and stay with you then go to the place that I am going to, I mean I am going to miss your lovely smile and kind words."

"Why you little brat, don't patronise me, after all that we have done for you, your still mocking us, you don't move I am going to do something that will make you wish you have never been born…" countered Vernon.

"What, is going on here?" said Snape in his usual slow drawl. "I thought I told you Potter to leave all the muggles alone? Who are you" he said looking at Vernon.

"Why I should be asking who you are! At least I am a normal citizen of the god Queen's England". Spat Vernon. "My name Vernon Dursley the unfortunate of guardian of Harry and I am taking him home before he causes more of a scene at King's Cross and disgraces me even more, something I will not stand for. Get in the car Harry" he growled, like a rabid dog.

"It's you!" Snape's mind flashed back to his own tortured childhood, his anger at his own father coming out at Vernon. "You sad sorry sap of a man, how dare you take out your anger and own failings of a man out on this boy, he is a pain but you disgust me, you are nothing more then a vile slug". Snape calmly said, with just a hint of anger, it was going to take a lot to knock this calm logical man off balance and make him lose his temper.

Vernon flabbergasted at being insulted by a man that he felt he was superior to was too much to take for the pompous fool. With a roar he leaped at Snape.

Snape, the ever ready Death Eater, ever vigilant for attack was not taken by surprise by the slow moving man, he pointed his wand and said with only the slightest air of emergency "_Petrificus Totalus". _

Vernon, came to attention like a soldier, then, as he had no strength fell face forward with a sickening crunch on the floor, unable to stop the fall he land right smack on his face and broke his nose.

The usually noisy station stopped and went deadly quiet, looking at what was happening with all of those strange looking people.

Snape walked over and rollled him over, he mumbled something under his breath and Vernon's nose came back into place with a small pop. Speaking another spell _"Wingardium leviosa" _he picked up the man and dumped him in a nearby bin, one of those big multi skips. (A/N: I don't know what they are called in England but they are called Multi Skip bins here in Australia)

"That will teach you dad, see I am not a failure, I am more of a man then you ever will be". Snape said quietly, but not quiet enough that Harry didn't hear. He then turned around waving his wand so as to remove the memory of his dumping Vernon in a bin from the watching muggles.

Snape turned around and looked at Harry, "So what are you waiting for? An invitation or something? Get your backside over here, we will be apparating".

With a last look at his friends Harry walked over to Snape, not sure what to say to him.

"Thanks Sir, though next time would you use a slightly nastier spell?"

Snape grunted a reply. A grunt that could of meant anything from you lucky you got what you did to that's okay. You never really know with Snape.

Harry was interested, Snape had spoken to Vernon like he was his father, what had happened to Snape? Why was he so angry, he was expecting Snape to just let Vernon destroy him so he wouldn't have to take him home. Maybe there is a heart in his body after all, or was he just setting a personal score? Harry had to get to the bottom of this, he was intersted, this holiday could be better then he had thought it was going to be.

A/N: Well there you are, yet another instalment and you should all feel happy, as I have not even started my Ancient History Assignment or even looked at my English Literature essays so you may not be getting another chapter as there is a big possibility that I will be dead. But please REVIEW my ghost will come back and look and it will keep me happy, so please review!


	9. Snape's House

Snape's House

Harry and Snape walked out of the train station hauling their vast amount of luggage behind the. They walked away from the noisy crowd of the other students and their parents in an uneasy aggravated silence, both brooding over their various problems and reverences about being stuck with the other for the next month.

They walked behind the railway to a more secluded spot, Snape thought how it must look a bit suss to all of the people that had seen them walking, he really didn't want people thinking he was some kind of paedophile, he really didn't want to have to try and explain that the robe he was wearing were not involved in some form of satanic ritual that involved killing young teenage boys and sacrificing them to Satan, but he thought dryly, if the opportunity was to come up, Potter would be his first choice for a sacrificial victim.

After walking for about five minutes they came to a completely secluded spot, only thing that could be heard is that of the trains in the distance and the occasional yell from people far off in the distance, they were completely alone, there was no doubt about that.

"Sir I have a question". Harry asked trying to keep his voice even, "but how are we meant to dissaparate? I can't".

"Potter you may one day learn something, but it can be done to dissaparate two people if the person in charge is strong enough. Lucky for you I am that strong, but watch your self or I may "accidentally" have you land somewhere near Mars", came the reply from Snape.

Harry gulped at the thought, he decided that now was not the best point in time to point out that if Snape was such a great wizard, what was he doing teaching a bunch of kids how to brew potions like "hair replacement for when your eighty". But he could always bring that up at a later, safer point in time, like when he was at the Ministry for Magic surrounded by Aurors.

"….earth to Potter, come in, over". Snape said mimicking a fighter pilot off something like Star Wars, interrupting Harry's small day dream.

"Are you planning on waking up sometime this century? Or are you just going to stand there with your mouth open looking like a goldfish? You're going to have to...Umm... come a bit closer to me, unless you want only half of you to end up at my Manor". Snape stated, looking slightly uneasy.

"WHAT!? How close is close?" Harry asked, starting to feel slightly sick, "if you think I am going to put my arms around you, you obviously have lost your marbles!"

"Oh grow a brain boy; do you honestly think I want you that close to me? The way you hang around Ginny you are bound to have syphilis or something. Just stand at my side and hold part of my robe, NOT MY HAND!" Snape roared.

Harry snorted with laughter, "Like I am going to hold your hand, I have seen the way that Filch looks at you, you two really shouldn't reproduce, the offspring that the evil potions master and demon like caretaker would almost surely produce an evil to rival Voldemort".

Snape gaped, his mouth open so wide the Hogwarts Express could have driven through. He didn't say anything, but he aimed a slap right across the back of the head, only just grazing the back of his scalp as his hand grazed over the space where Harry's head had been milliseconds before he had ducked.

"Miss me, miss me, and know you want to kiss me". Harry sang, going back to age six when that was the typical saying, then turned green thinking of Snape lusting after him.

"You have to be joking Potter, there is more chance in Longbottom passing Potions then me ever wanting to kiss you." Snape retorted, "Now would you come over here so we can get out of this God awful place?"

Harry sauntered over to Snape's side and held his breath, fuelled with interest as to the kind of place that Snape would live and shivering with fear as too where he could end up.

With a flash of white light and a feeling of being flung through the air like he was on a catapult, he landed with a thud on some wet ground, no scratch that, some very wet, cold, hard ground, it was winter after all. Of all the places that he landed in, it just had to be a puddle, bloody Snape, if he didn't know the git so well he would have thought it was an honest mistake, but Snape was quite dry and standing upright, looking down with an amused smirk in his eye at the now very soggy boy.

"Of all the places we could have landed, I just happened to land in a great big puddle, how unlucky" Harry said sarcastically.

"Stop your whining, a bath never hurt anyone Potter and it will do me a world of good as I can no longer smell you, land in a puddle more often boy", came the retort from Snape, "now are you going splash around all day or are we going to make our way to cover before you grow a brain? I do not have that long."

Harry grunted and stood up. "If that was meant to be an insult, you really failed because the made no sense!" Harry exclaimed.

"It only made no sense because you have no brains boy! Honestly my sense of humour is wasted on the unintelligent". Snape sighed.

Still shaking with the cold and anger, Harry stood up to follow Snape. Grumbling under his breath about how much of a joy this day had already turned out to be, when he saw an opportunity to gain revenge on the unsuspecting potions teacher. Smiling evilly, he started to creep up behind the unsuspecting man.

He leaped forward and let rip an aggressive war cry, like one that would be heard from a martial artist about to attack. Snape, as quick as lightning whirled around and put out his arms to stop the flying boy but was knocked back by the weight of Harry. With a thump and a crash the two landed in a messy arrangement of limbs all tangled up on the ground, in yet another puddle.

"POTTER! You have no idea how much trouble you are in right now". Snape threatened, trying to untangle himself from a very inappropriate position, something the masters of karma sutra would have been proud of.

Harry scowled, this was so not his day, not only was he lying in a puddle next to his least favourite teacher, but he was on top and underneath said teacher with his hand very near a place that probably no man, or woman had ever gone before. He was almost certain that Snape was a virgin; there is no way a man that bitter had ever had sex.

Snape stood up and wrenched Harry up by the back collar of his shirt. He then marched the boy towards the door step. He unlocked the door with a spell whispered under his breath that Harry did not quite catch.

He was then pushed rather roughly through the door into a very big and old looking house. From the outside it looked like a fairly normal manor, nothing special just old looking with a splash of evil chucked in.

Looking around the inside he was completely knocked over in shock. Snape had taste! He was looking into a house that looked nice; he almost thought a normal person lived here.

As the lights came on he could see more clearly. The walls were well pained, a cream colour with a slight gold pattern. The paintings on the wall were artistic, photographs of people, one he recognised as being a school graduation picture as he could see his parents and Sirius in it.

The other paintings on the wall were landscapes, waterfalls, forests and other nature orientated works. There were some darker works, one with a skull and a snake and others with that kind of theme. The carpet further on was a deep red colour with gold trimmings; obviously Snape wasn't short of a few bob.

The floor boards he was standing on in the entrance where jarrah, unusual and expensive considering jarrah isn't common, it's only found in Australia. (A/N: what do you English and Americans use for floor boards? I know in Australia where I am from, we use jarrah as its native to Australia...)

The room was also perfectly clean, every lamp shade, every ornament, every painting was all perfectly dust free and neat, someone very clean was living here. It was also very warm, a fire was lit in the next room.

"Ava? Where are you? I have someone for you to meet". Snape called.

A little house elf came bustling into the room. She was small, resembled Dobby, but unlike Dobby but looked more feminine surprisingly and was in good health with clean clothes. The rags she was wearing were not rags but were perfectly good pieces of wool, perfect for keeping her warm. She had been sitting in front of the fire, keeping warm.

"Master! Ava so sorry, did not hear master coming in", the elf squeaked.

"It's okay, Ava this is the boy, Harry, whom I am to be baby sitting this holidays, he is at your disposal, have him do whatever you want as long as it does not involve annoying me". Snape said, introducing the two together.

"Harry this is Ava, she is my loyal house elf and you are to treat her with the utmost respect, she is your superior, I would rather teach her in potions then you."

Ava bowed down low and quietly started saying how honoured she was to be serving the great Harry Potter. Harry smiled at the small elf.

"It's great to meet you Ava; at least there will be one person in this place that will be of good company, "he said snidely, looking at Snape.

Snape looked at the house elf. Quietly he asked her to start dinner, that he and Harry were hungry and that he was going to show Harry is room.

"I will send you up later on with some towels Ava when Mr Potter is settled in."

"As you wish master", Ava replied and turned to go off to the kitchen.

"Follow me Potter; your luggage will already be in your room, so not to worry".

Harry followed Snape to a stairwell. He looked up the staircase; it was one of those that curl around in a spiral. It to was wooden with the same red rug down it so as to provide grip for the walker's shoes.

The pair walked up in silence towards a door that had engraved on it in neat calligraphy "Guest Suite".

"This is the room that Ava has set up for you, go in there do what you wish, there are three rooms there that you can use, the bedroom, bathroom and living area. The other rooms around here you are not to go into as they are mine and if I find you anywhere near my rooms I will end the Potter line by making you unable to reproduce, do we have an understanding Potter?"

"But what if I need someone if I have a nightmare? I am not used to sleeping alone you know". Harry said, pulling the piss out of Snape.

"That's okay, I knew that may come up so have arranged a pacifier to be automatically inserted into your mouth every time you go to bed, that will stop the screaming and crying, well it works with babies anyway". Snape countered, smiling evilly.

"Dinner will be at seven so you have two hours to do whatever, don't make any noise and I do not want to hear from you, I don't care if he-should-not-be-named himself comes through your window, I do not want to know about it before seven o'clock? Am I making myself clear?"

"Crystal", Harry replied.

Good, Snape said and pushed the boy in without another word.

Harry stumbled and looked at his surroundings. Well it was definitely an improvement from the matchbox sized room he had under the staircase at the Dursley's. The room was quite wide, big enough to have a king sized bed with a nice thick blue quilt, and there was a fire place in the room, alight so the room was nice and cosy.

He walked through, looking at the different objects in the room. The pictures on the wall were fairly boring, just little landscapes and abstract works by painters like Monet, nothing really all that interesting. There was an arm chair in the corner and a book case that was nearly empty apart from a pile of magazines and some books.

Harry looked through the books, just some boring titles about potions and histories of random people that he had never even heard of. The magazines were not as bad, there were some muggles ones, the National Geographic, a nature magazine and HELLO!! Harry smiled looking at the magazines that were hidden craftily between the other cultured titles; he had just found a copy of "_Playwizard_", obviously a take off of the muggle magazine _Playboy, _but the quality had improved! The sexy women in the magazine not only posed provocatively but actually moved to accommodate what the viewer wanted. Harry thought to himself that this was the perfect reading material before bedtime. But then again, he had just found his teachers pornography collection, shuddering, he put it back, he really didn't want to think about Snape "letting off steam".

He walked through and found the bathroom, now this was more his style, it had a lavish spa and tiles that were light coloured, the bathroom had an almost classical Greek feel to it, the pillars on the bathroom resembled that of the Acropolis in Athens and the sand coloured tiles and walls. There was also laurel wreaths painted on the walls in the corner. Harry looked around thinking how he almost expected to have an armoured hoplite jump out of nowhere.

He walked out of the bathroom, thinking of how he could get used to living here, if it wasn't for the fact that he lived with Snape. Suddenly he was broken out of his day dream of banishing Snape from his own home and becoming the owner when he tripped over Ava.

"What are you doing?" He yelled, shocked and not realising what it was.

"I'm so sorry sir, very, very, very sorry sir, please don't hurt Ava, she will do it herself, please just don't tell Master, Master will not be happy with Ava for disrupting Master's guest, oh please…" Ava stammered, scared of what trouble she believed she was in for.

"Oh, sorry Ava, don't know what happened there, you just scared me, it's all right". He bent down to pick up the towels that she had dropped.

"Oh merciful Master, I knew you were a good person, Master Snape did well in inviting you here". She said, clearly relieved.

"What do you mean he invited me? I was forced to come here against my will! Neither of us wanted this arrangement, in fact, I am going to be avoiding him as much as I possibly can for the rest of the month!" Harry blurted out.

"Oh really?" Ava questioned, "He seemed so pleased to have you here, he sent me a letter a little while ago that he had a guest coming for the holidays from school and that he wanted everything perfect".

"You must be confused, are you sure that the angry git that walked in here is your master?" Harry queried

"Yes, definitely sir, I have known him long ago to know that he was looking forward to sir's visit."

Harry stood there stunned, there was no way in hell, there was more chance in the world that Hermione would deliberately fail her OWL exams then Snape would look forward to spending the only time that he had with Harry.

He hadn't been here for long and he was already seeing a different side of Snape. This could not be happening, before long he would find that Snape was married to a supermodel with kids.

"Just between you and me sir, Master is a lonely man who never has any company, the few visitors he has are not people that Master wants anything to do with. You may think he hates you for destroying his holiday, but deep down this will be the best holiday he will ever have, spending it with another human being that is not trying to do wicked things".

With that Harry fell down onto the floor, shocked and ashamed he thought of his own behaviour. Maybe that explained some of the behaviour Snape had been displaying, he hated Harry so much but was also looking forward to his staying and felt guilty and also ashamed for not having any other friends and was depending on the company of an irritating teenager to brighten his Christmas holiday.

"Wow", Harry thought, he had just psycho-analysed Snape and what he had come up with was even more confusing, Snape really should go and see someone.

"Ava really shouldn't have told you any of that sir, it's just that it has been such a long time since there has been someone to talk to, please don't tell Master Ava told you, Master will get very mad", she pleaded, begging with every fibre in her body, her big blue eyes looking up at Harry.

"Don' worry, I don't really plan on talking to the git anyway", came the reply.

"It is almost time for dinner; would sir have a shower and then come down, it will be ready in about half an hour, more then enough for a ? It's a roast dinner with apple crumble for dessert". Ava asked.

"Okay thanks, I'll be right down."

Harry closed the door as Ava walked out. Sighing he walked into the bathroom and started to run a bath. There were things on the side that could be put into the bath water to make it bubble and smell nice. He selected one called"_Winter Wonderland". _How can they make a scent called that? Do they get a pile of snow and shove it in a bottle with some winter smelling stuff, like burnt wood and smoke, for some reason Harry couldn't see that as being a good enough scent.

He layed back in the warm water and relaxed, pondering the new information that he had come across. Thinking about Ron and Hermione and what they would be doing at the moment. Probably having a better time then what he was, that was for sure.

He drifted off in a kind of doze, he was so sleepy after the train ride and his relaxing, calm smelling warm bath was doing its best at putting him to sleep.

Suddenly he was awoken by someone yelling at him. Coming to he opened an eye to see Snape looking rather annoyed and in CASUAL CLOTHES!

"What's wrong?" Harry asked sleepily.

"What's wrong? What a stupid question from a stupid boy, I believe you were told that dinner is at seven o'clock sharp, it is now ten minutes past and you are still in the bath!". Snape yelled.

"OH MY GOD! I'm naked! Get out, this is illegal, PAEDOPHILLE!" Harry started to scream, trying to hide his manhood with his hands.

"Don't worry Potter, there is nothing there worth hiding, do you really think I am interested in a boy like you Potter? I am not gay and if I was, I would at least have the decency to choose someone with…more of a body". Snape drawled.

"Now get out of the bath and get your arse down to dinner before its cold."

With that Snape walked out, leaving the door open behind him.

Swearing, Harry stood up out of the bath, blushing about being caught in the bath by his teacher. Putting on a clean set of clothes he went down the stairs ready for dinner and what the rest of the day had in stall for him.

­­­A/N: Well that was quite long? I am trying to get the chapters a bit longer and putting in some more detail, well there you have it and for those that care I was not killed by my teachers so there is a chance for another chapter! I do have a request though, is there any kind of scenario you want in the story? I have some ideas but I am open to that of you, the audience, so please in your reviews or even message me some ideas, all ideas I use will be fully credited with a big thankyou note! Also those loyal viewers: Hopeless Lady Dreamer, Ranekaera, Clarinetguardgeek07 and Red-Rose Melody who have been reviewing heaps thankyou so much sends cyber hugs. To the rest of you PLEASE REVIEW! Or comment somehow I love the comments :) once again love you guys.


	10. First Night At Snape's

To some of you dedicated Harry Potter fans you may have been curious about why Ava was not acting like a house elf, never fear my dears, because this should hopefully clear all things up and to those who were not sure what jarrah is, the wood that was mentioned in the last chapter, it is a dark brown hardwood found here in Australia that is ten times better then any pine you will ever find. Well here is the next chapter so don't forget to review!

Disclaimer: Only thing I own is Ava and she's up for sale, interested J.K?

First Night at Snape's House

Harry walked down the stairs, pondering what was going to happen at dinner. Damn, he thought to himself, I have no idea where dinner is even being served. Going down the stairs he looked around, hoping for clues that might tell him where he would find his dinner, he was starving and was so looking forward to a hot meal.

Smiling he thought to himself, "duh the biggest clue where dinner is would be the scrumptious smell". He started sniffing the air, like he was a dog. He didn't have to try for long, because after half a second he could smell the rich scent of home cooked gravy and the strong aroma of roasted vegetables with herbs.

His nose lead him to a really big room. Sitting at the head of the table was Snape. Snape was sitting with both finger tips together with a straight back. Dressed in casual clothes, a woollen jumper, Harry couldn't see what his pants where, he looked up as Harry walked into the room.

"Well it's about time you turned up, late as usual Potter, will you ever be on time?" Snape asked.

"I doubt it for some reason, I was born late", came the reply.

Ava came bustling in, using her magic she had the food levitated above her head, waitressing made easy, she lowered the food onto the table and took a seat next to Snape. Harry looked at the seat that had a place laid out for him that was facing Ava on the opposite side of Snape that must be his seat he decided.

Snape didn't look too pleased to have Harry sitting next to him, no more pleased then Harry himself was he guessed. Ava smiled uncomfortably; the tension in the room was so thick it could have been cut with a knife.

Harry didn't quite understand the little house elf. She looked like a house elf, but didn't act like a house elf. He had been told personal things about Snape so easily by the little creature; she still had Dobby like traits, like needing to punish herself, but her conscience was different, she would tell Harry stuff, then think it was a bad thing to do, say she had to punish herself but she never did it, Harry remembered how Dobby didn't hesitate, he just went right ahead and started inflicting pain on himself, bloody emo house elves.

The food was nice and there was lots of it. The three sat eating their meal in stony silence, Ava looking at the two of them, studying and thinking, she was a lot smarter then your average house elf Harry decided, but there was just something about her that made him feel uneasy.

"Are you enjoying your meals?" Ava asked, trying to make conversation.

"Yeah, it's great, thanks," Harry replied.

Snape just grunted and looked at Ava, Harry couldn't see his facial expression clearly but from the side of his head he could tell that Snape's expression had softened looking at her, he cared a lot about the elf.

"So, what are we doing tomorrow?" Harry asked, looking at Snape.

"Well I don't know, or care what you are doing Potter, but I will be enjoying a sleep in followed by breakfast and then going on a leisurely walk by myself, what YOU do", he said emphasising that word hardly, "is up to you, as long as it does not involve annoying me or destroying my home".

"Oh", Harry replied, he was expecting something a little different to that.

They finished their meal in a rush, neither wanting to be in the other's presence for to long. Harry walked back up to his room and sat on his bed.

"Great, he thought to himself, I am bored and lonely, if this was a horror movie, wish for many of us it is", thinking of Snape, "this would be the perfect time to start killing us, though it would be a very short horror movie, there is only three of us here".

He decided that he might as well unpack; it was a good thing that he had brought Hedwig as well to keep him company so he put her cage on a stand and let her out so she could stretch her wings.

There was a small knock on the door, "come in!" Harry called, thinking it was Snape coming in to ask him about something. Instead the small, willowy figure of Ava walked in.

Harry looked at her questioningly, feeling uneasy, even though he knew she was of no danger to him, who has ever heard of a homicidal house elf? He still didn't think she was a normal house elf.

"Sorry to barge in on you sir, but I thought you might like to talk", she asked simply. "I noticed you thinking about me during dinner tonight and I thought you might want to clear up what ever is on your mind".

There were a million questions rushing through Harry's head, but instead he just gaped, not sure what to say first.

"How did you know I was thinking about you"? Harry finally asked.

"Living in a house with Master Snape for as long as I have, I learnt occlumency off him, it was a good way to see into his mind and know if there was something wrong with him; it was an even better way to keep him out of my head". She added.

"How long have you lived with Snape then"? Harry asked.

"Do you want to listen to a story sir"? Ava asked, "It may clear some things up for you".

"Um yeah, sure, oh and please call me Harry; there is no need for this Sir stuff".

"Well Harry", Ava started, the name feeling funny in her mouth, "this is my story":

_I am not a complete house elf, I am actually part human, something that you may have noticed, but by the look on your face, you have not. My mother, what you humans would call her, was half house elf and half human. Her mother, my grandmother was the house elf to a very powerful wizarding family, a family that for my knowledge is possibly still around but since the demise of the Dark Lord is no longer in force, many members are in Azkaban and others are dead, the family name was Delacroix and the man of the house's name was Victor Delacroix. _(Delacroix is pronounced Del-a-croy, it's a French Name)

_Victor Delacroix was a very evil man. He was one of He-who-will-not-be-named biggest supporters, a death eater and a devout muggle hater. My grandmothers' ancestors had all worked for the Delacroix's for as long as we can remember. _

_They were not a bad family to us, no worse then any other wizarding family is to their house elves, we, to most people are the scum of the earth as we clean up after people and their grubby offspring. My grandmother, whose name was Leia, was just another servant to them, she cleaned the big house all on her own, very few house elves have more then the amount of children that their masters have, this is so that there is always a house elf for that generations family when the children grow up and leave home. _

_For some reason Victor, despite having an absolutely beautiful wife, she was one of the most attractive people of this century, he was also for some reason attracted to Leia, a weird attraction considering she was just a house elf that was dressed in grubby clothing. _

_It had been decided years ago that humans and elves could never have reproduced, but that is a lie. More then once, over years and years of Leia being at their house, Leia and Master Delacroix engaged in the sacred act performed between man and his wife, ending up in Leia falling pregnant, something that shocked both of them. . _

_Now before you tell your friend Hermione about elf rape, let me explain something to you, an elf is at the liberty of his or her master and it is their duty to do what ever their master or mistress tells them to do, Leia was asked to satisfy her master and she did as she knew it was her duty, she did not feel bad about it, she just knew it was her job, like washing the dishes or cleaning up after his children. _

_She fell pregnant with my mother and she eventually gave birth to her after a very difficult and painful pregnancy. You can just imagine the problems that this caused around the magical community, it was not advertised and only a select group of people knew about her, but my mother was one of the biggest political problems of the magical world_

_No one knew what they should do with her, theoretically she had the rights of a were wolf or a centaur as she was half human, but she was also half house elf, meaning that it was her duty to be nothing more then be a slave to the humanoid race._

_Doctors eventually found a way to suppress her human characteristics, despite her being a big baby; by house elf standards anyway she grew to being no bigger then an average female house elf. Leia did not want her to look like an outcast, there was not enough knowledge to make her develop into a normal looking human but it could be done to keep her looking like a house elf. This was so that she was not going to be shunned by the rest of her race, either one; even house elves can be cruel but also to hide the shame that had been brought upon the Delacroix family. _

_She grew up as a normal house elf, doing the usual chores, cleaning up, looking after kids, the mending, just the usual boring stuff. This was all happening while the dark lord was coming to power._

_When my mum was an adult house elf, ready to go out and live with one of the kids who was getting ready to move out a terrible thing happened. My mother had gone out looking for houses with her soon to be new mistress and fiancé, only to come back to an empty block of land. _

_Vincent had fallen out of favour with the Lord, he was sloppy with his duties, only reason he stayed being a death eater was that he knew that if he was to give up that title he would be in even graver danger then before, it also meant that he had free access to any women, muggle or witch that he wanted, he loved being the torturer, the number of innocent women that he found attractive that were kidnapped because he fancied them and then killed were huge. _

_The Dark Lord had destroyed the house and all its occupants, including Leia, my grand mother. Of course my mother and her mistress were distraught and immediately went looking for protection. _

_Albus Dumbledore, the same man that is your headmaster protected us. He sent my mistress and me as well as her fiancé to live with Master Snape, he was a double agent and also a family friend of the Delacroix's, interested in the dark arts he had spent a lot of time with Victor, wanting to learn the ways of getting into the Dark Lord's good books. Being a double agent as well and someone that was impeccably trusted by Dumbledore made the perfect place for my mother to stay with her mistress, despite Death Eaters constantly walking in and out of here, but none of them would have realised what was in the house, they were all just stupid little minions. _

_My mother acted as a house elf to my master, looking after him and his house. Her mistress how ever had a second deadly blow given to her when her fiancé left her. He was cut off from his family and life and was going mad; when he abandoned her it made my mother's mistress so unhappy she eventually died from a broken heart, depression in a nut shell. _

_My mother went on to serve Master Snape, in debt to him and as it is with the house elf code, he was the next person that would be her master. She listened in a lot to the conversations that took place in this house between the Dark Lord, Master Snape and the other death eaters. She was asked by Dumbledore to keep an ear in to make sure that all details that Snape reported back were included, but it was also a way to make sure that nothing happened to Snape and that he stayed on the "good" side. _

_When the Dark Lord was defeated there was no use for my mother at Snape's house, she no longer needed protection, but she chose to stay anyway, she had grown to like Snape, despite his rather gloomy and depressive ways, besides she now had me and I was almost an adult house elf. _

_Dumbledore asked her to come work for him at the kitchen in Hogwarts, he said that it would be better for her as there was more of her kind that were half casts, mum was starting to feel curious about those who were also house elf/humans, Hogwarts had a few, younger then mum of course but still just like her. I was left to look after Master Snape, there was no way mum would dare leave him unattended, he is hopeless, can't even make his bed. _

_So that is where I am now, I am now the sole carer for Master Snape, I look after his house when he is at work, I sought his mail and send to him what he needs and I cook and clean when he is at home. I am the closest thing that he has to a friend or companion and the only person he trusts, he does get annoyed with me as I am not like my mother, even though it was her who was the half breed I am less like a house elf, I am chatty, mischievous and far from quiet but I do my duties as any house elf would. _

Ava stopped her story, looking at Harry, he was there, gaping with his mouth wide open, he could not believe what he had just heard, and it explained so much, why she told him so many personal things about Snape, why her clothing was new, everything.

"So you are able to wear whatever you want? It will not set you free or anything?" Harry asked, curious.

Nodding she replied, "I am technically free from the restraints of the house elf, under the laws about half breeds, the ones that cover centaurs and were wolves, I have the rights of a human being, under no circumstances do I have to stay here, I stay here because I like Snape and enjoy the hospitality that he offers me".

With that Harry almost fell off his chair, did he hear right? Someone actually liked Snape? Wait till he told Ron this, he would kill himself hysterically about this, probably wanting to know what kind of curse the poor little mite is under.

Ava smiled at him, "I think that you have learnt enough for tonight, would you like anything before I leave? Some hot chocolate or anything? I bring Master Snape's his just before bedtime or he has trouble sleeping, I can do the same for you if you would like?"

"Nah thanks, that's cool". Harry replied.

"Okay then, have a good night sleep, call me if you need anything".

With that Ava walked out, quietly closing the door behind her.

As quick as greased lightning, Harry turned around and grabbed his invisibility cloak, he wanted to follow Ava, she would take him to Snape's room and he could wander around the rest of the manor after he found out where Snape slept, the knowledge he was sure would come in use one day, he was curious what the manor was like and he couldn't just explore when Snape was around and watching him.

Slinking out behind Ava, he watched her walk down the stairs. She then went straight to the kitchen, confused Harry followed her, not sure what was going to happen.

Ava started warming up milk, Harry smiled to himself, of course that's what she was doing in the kitchen, poor little Snape couldn't sleep without first having a hot drink.

He waited while Ava put the milk in a mug on a tray along side some milk flavourings like chocolate. Picking up the tray the house elf walked back towards the stairs, carrying the tray delicately.

Harry followed her closely behind, being careful not to bump into anything or make to much sound, he wasn't sure how good her hearing was but he didn't want to test it by being caught following her into Snape's room.

Every now and then she turned around, listening and searching for the mysterious entity she felt following her, she couldn't put her finger on it, it seemed to Harry, but it looked like she could sense him around her.

Harry followed her a little further back now as she turned down a very eerie passageway. He couldn't believe how big Snape's house was, they had been walking for almost five minutes in the opposite direction to his house, he had better be able to find his way out of here.

Then she came to a big mahogany door with a gold knocker. She had to use both hands to pull it up; it was that heavy, the tray of milk and stuff hovering in the air while she did.

A deep voice called from inside; "Is that you Ava?"

"Yes, it's me master" came the reply.

The door opened, almost magically and the house elf walked in, closely followed by Harry.

Harry gaped when he saw Snape's room. It was so unusual. There was a four poster bed in the middle of the room, surrounded by a royal blue carpet, there were banners of Slytherin around the room. There was also weird works of art on the wall, a kind of gothic almost emo mood with lots of blood and skulls featured on the works of art.

Then there was Snape. Harry wished he had a camera; it would have been the perfect blackmail at school to show Snape in his pyjamas. He had blue and white striped pyjama pants and night shirt; he resembled one of the "Bananas in Pyjamas" to be brutally honest. On his head he had a night cap to keep his head warm. Shock, horror! He had wet hair as well, Severus Snape was actually capable of washing his hair, the people at school would never believe that.

"You're later then normal". Snape stated.

"Yes, I was seeing Harry to bed".

"You call him Harry? What came of the polite manners you normally use with the few guests I have had."

"We started to talk and he said that he felt more comfortable with me calling him by his proper name, so I complied by calling him Harry".

After a small silence Ava spoke up.

"You really are quite a rude man, did you know that? There is a young teenage boy, upset and confused, possibly starving for attention and love as well as understanding after the incredible losses that he has suffered, then there's you, up here alone, reading a book like there is nothing more important then the last damn potion that has been created. For once in your life would you do something for someone else?"

Snape looked up stunned, he was so used to having the people around him, even his own colleagues, treading on egg shells around him, treating him with the upmost respect, and being told by his servant what he really was like was something he was far from used to.

"What did you just say to me?" he asked, aghast.

"You heard me Severus", Ava said, using his first name for the first time in quite awhile, "you are a selfish loner, Dumbledore has asked you to do this for a reason, he would be angry id he knew you were flaunting his wish."

"Dumbledore is a fool if he believes I am going to become the father figure that boy so dearly needs, if he was so serious about this he would do it himself, therefore all that I am going to do is keep him as far away from me as possible and try and make the most of this awful situation and I do not want to hear a single thing from you". Snape snapped back.

"You're impossible! No wonder Lily never wanted anything to do with you, how could she, she would have more luck getting blood from a stone then getting a single caring emotion from you ". Ava yelled.

With that she turned around, and went to walk out, Harry following her, quickly waking from his shock induced stupor.

"Think about the decision you are making, beware, you know that Dumbledore wants this to work and that he wants me to make sure it happens, don't make me force you to get along! You know I will".

Leaving a very grumpy Snape she walked out, fuming.

Harry could not believe it, Snape had seemed for years to be impossible to fight with and win against, and then again he has just been beaten by a house elf. Hermione was going to love this. She had the perfect feminist in the shape of a four foot half-elf.

But there was still one thing plaguing his mind, was this Lily the same person as his mother? Why did Snape like her? What exactly was going on? Obviously there needs to be some more sleuthing done to get to the bottom of this.

He wandered into his room and sat down to get ready to go to bed. When there was a crack and suddenly Ava landed on the floor next to him. Arms folded she looked at him, studying his face.

"You were in his room weren't you?" it was more of a statement then a question.

"Yes", Harry said in a small voice, not sure if that was a safe answer.

"I trust that you learnt something from that? " Ava asked.

"Umm, yeah I think so". Harry said, not really sure if he had but knew he could just think about it later.'

"You're lying, I can see that, but think about what happened, you may learn something and gain something from the experience, good night Harry, I expect there will be some interesting things tomorrow".

With that she left in a flash leaving a stunned Harry, not sure whether he was going to enjoy tomorrow, there was something creepy about the way that she had said that she would make them get along, he wasn't going to enjoy this was all that he knew. Slipping into bed, he fell asleep, so as to be fresh for what tomorrow had in store for him.

A/N: Once again here is your weekly instalment, hope this has cleared up some confusion and made you all happy campers again. Thanks to those who have suggested ideas and anymore will be accepted happily. REVIEW PEOPLE!! PLEASE. Cheers guys. Taryn.

Taryn


	11. The Discovery

Thanks for the amount of reviews that have been flooding in, checking my email and seeing a full email box is always pleasing to see, so keep it up! A huge thank you goes out to Ranekaera for their idea for this chapter; I loved it so much and fitted into the story line so well I just had to use it. So check out their work, they have written an awesome fic called _Snape's Daughter _and it is also complete! Also look at Hopeless Lady Dreamers story _A World of Dreams _for some really well written angst! (Be nice to her, she is very sensitive!) Once again thanks for your support and here is the next chapter as promised!

Finding the Album

It was about five in the morning when Harry woke up. Outside there was a huge thunderstorm coming up. "Great", he thought to himself, "that is definitely not a good omen; even Professor Trelawney could have predicted that and she couldn't predict a snow storm in the middle of winter."

He rolled over in bed and tried to get back to sleep. But he couldn't, he was thinking too much about what had happened in Snape's room. It hadn't bothered him that much when he had first heard it, but as usual it only bothers you when you're trying to get a good nights sleep and wake up in the middle of the night.

It only really dawned on him just then how little he really knew about his parents. He didn't know about their childhoods, where they had lived, anything. All he knew was that his mother had hated his father with a passion for a reason he didn't know but they eventually ended up dating in their final year and ended up married.

What was this about Snape having feelings for his mum? Snape hated Harry; wouldn't the fact that Lily was his mother make him hate her, like he hated his father? Besides, a Slytherin liking a Gryffindor was so unheard of it was mythical. Ava must have been confused or he had misunderstood her or something, there is no conceivable way that Snape, who was sexually anorexic would even be capable of having a crush on someone let alone love someone.

Tired of thinking about stuff that had no answers to, he managed to go back to sleep, having a recurring nightmare over and over again.

_Harry walked into a house, one of those old English town houses. When he arrived inside the house he saw a pretty woman, one with the green eyes like his and the fire red hair, it was his mum. _

"_Hello there honey, how was school". His mum asked._

_Harry looked at her with his mouth wide open. This couldn't be right she was dead, he never even knew his parents, so how was she alive and talking to him. _

"_Your father will be right down, he has been anxious to see you". _

_Harry looked up towards the stairs where his mother was gesturing towards. He looked up and what he saw was not what he was expecting. Instead of the kindly, cheeky face of James Potter he saw the smiling face of Snape. Yes, smiling, not grimacing, but smiling. _

_Harry felt shocked. What was happening to him? Snape ran down the stairs, arms outstretched. _

"_Son! It's so good to see you it has been such a long time". Snape said happily. _

_Snape ran up to the shocked teenager and took him in a big strong embrace. Harry sat there stunned, but it was only going to get worse. _

"_My God, you have grown into quite a strong, good looking young man haven't you?" Snape said admiringly. _

_Then the worst thing that could have happened to Harry, he had seen his Godfather die, a friend die, so many awful things, but nothing could rival Severus Snape, the Severus Snape, the most hated teacher in history leaning forward and kissing Harry right on the forehead, like a father would do to a beloved child. _

Harry woke up at that point in time. The image of Snape's lips coming towards him still burnt into his mind's eye. Sweating profusely, like he had just taken a bath and hadn't toweled himself dry. Hyperventilating, he sat up in bed, trying to make sense of what just happened, playing back what had happened in his head. Sheepishly he smiled to himself, thinking about his over reaction, Hermione was right, his vendetta against Snape was unhealthy, to the point where his uneasiness had turned out into outright fear, he really needed to talk to a psychiatrist. But who could blame him for being screwed mentally, he had grown up an orphan looked after by horrible people and he had one of the most evil people in the world after him, it was probably a good thing that Voldemort was now dead, he had less to fear.

Eventually Harry went back to sleep, the adrenaline that had been pumping through his story had finally quieted down and allowed him to drift off into a nightmare free deep sleep.

Later on he woke up. The sunlight streaming in through his window, all traces of last nights storm was gone. He rolled over back and forwards, he didn't want to get up but knew he should, it was probably ride to stay in bed till early afternoon. Getting dressed he walked out of his room and wandered on down to the dining room. He wandered in on Ava, sitting at the table reading the newspaper.

"Morning Ava, anything interesting in the paper?" Harry sung, happy to see her.

"Did you sleep well Harry? Not really, it's just the usual stuff, people whining about how they have to pay more tax, it's a muggle newspaper, and all they care about is their blasted mountain of money in the bank. Did you want some breakfast?" Ava asked.

"Yeah sure, I am starving, where is Snape?" Harry replied.

"Okay, I will go and whip you something up, pancakes sound okay? Master Snape has gone out for the day, he will not be back till later in the day, he has left a letter for you, I do not know what it is about." Pulling the letter out of her apron pocket she gave it to Harry.

_Potter_

_I will not be here for the day, I have gone out to enjoy myself before I have to do my duty and deal with you. You may leave the manor at anytime; stay away for as long as you want, even overnight. You may go anywhere in the manor you wish, apart from locked rooms and my own. The library is free for you to use, do as you wish. Do nothing to annoy Ava or me and keep my house in one peace. _

_Snape._

YES! Harry thought to himself joyfully, there will be no Snape for a whole day; he was free to do as he wished. Just then a mountain of pancakes landed on his plate, drenched in maple syrup with some cream on top.

"Yum", he thought to himself and dug in. Ava was an awesome cook, these where the best pancakes he had ever had, they were just awesome! He managed to pack away about six pancakes before he felt full, that and a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice.

As Ava cleared away his plates she asked him what he was planning on doing that day.

"I'm not sure, might go and have a look around the place and see what there is to do, then might go check out the library, see if I can find a good book to read while I am here."

She nodded and walked off. Thinking to herself how she could get the two difficult males together, it was going to be harder then she thought.

Harry walked out the door and stood on the step, looking where he should go for his walk. He wished he had a dog, it would be awesome to have someone to walk with, thinking of dogs, his heart lurched for Sirius, thinking how if he was alive there would be someone for him to stay with that cared about him, even better, there was no way that Sirius would ever allow Harry to be in Snape's house for the holidays.

With a sigh he walked out and down the path towards the fence. He walked out the fence and started to follow the path that lead to Snape's house. It was a really nice area; it was a forest area, with pine trees that were slowly yellowing and losing their leaves, there were mushrooms and other types of fungus around, it looked like something out of an Enid Blyton fantasy novel.

He walked around for what felt like hours. Snape's house was so isolated. There was nothing around; he hadn't seen another person at all or another house. It was like Snape lived in one of the most isolated areas in the world, it was just so empty. No wonder he was such a lonely man, there was not a soul with in a coo-ee of his home.

He turned around and started to walk back to the manor. He wondered where Snape was. Was he visiting friends in a nearby town? Could he actually have a girlfriend (or even a boyfriend) that he was visiting?

He thought about this as he arrived back at the house. He walked in; there was no one around, not even Ava to be seen. He saw something on the dining room table, he walked in there, and there was a note that said "Harry" in small, neat, cursive writing.

He bent down and picked up the note.

_Dear Harry_

_I am not home at the moment but I have made your lunch and put it in the refrigerator, I hope you like what I have made for you, I will be back later on, enjoy yourself and keep safe and if you need anything, just call my name and I will be right there with you._

_Sincerely Ava. _

He smiled thinking about how sweet she was. He was hungry; despite the huge breakfast he had and went into the refrigerator, expecting a jam sandwich or something left in there for him. Instead he found a beautifully prepared Greek Salad with some beef in a mustard seed sauce.

He happily dug into it. He was so used to having the bare minimum amount of food for survival when he was at the Dursely's that to be eating outside of home with this amount of good food it was like he had died and gone to heaven.

He devoured the mountain of food within a second of it landing on his plate. He scraped his plate and put it into the sink. He then went for a walk around the manor. It took him about half an hour to find the library, he was looking for a room with a television actually but Snape had probably never even heard of one.

Only one word could describe the library, gigantic summed it all up. There were just books everywhere, books cases everywhere just laden with books. Harry looked up close at one bookshelf. It was covered with biographies of famous witches and wizards, on the one next to it were biographies on famous muggles.

He wandered around the library looking for something to read. He took down the occasional book that caught his eye but nothing was about anything he was interested in. He even looked at the classic section, the same classics that would be found in any normal muggle library, but he could find nothing that interested him completely, but he did think of coming back and picking up _Dracula _or _Frankenstein. _

He weaved his way through the bookshelves until he came to one at the back of the room. It was a smaller bookshelf, different to the rest of the others; it was almost hidden in a corner and was very dusty. Harry walked over to the small bookshelf and squatted down to look at the contents.

Realising that it was a bookshelf of photo albums he smiled and picked up one. He was curious about the life of Snape, maybe he would find out something about the teacher, who his friends and family were.

He opened up one and looked through it. It was full of pictures of what looked like a young Snape. Some were still shots, taken with a muggle camera and others moved, taken by magical methods.

They were all labeled, by a hand different to Snape's, with things like "Severus's First day at school" and things like that. That particular picture had a very annoyed Snape, about six years old dressed in a blue and white school uniform. He looked almost cute; who would have thought that sulky little boy would grow up to be the man that every single student at Hogwarts was scared of.

The one that caught Harry's eye surprised him. In the picture were three people, a boy, presumably Snape who was about ten or eleven years old, a woman with the same jet black hair that Snape had, but less greasy and more feminine and then there was a man. Harry gasped looking at him, there was no way that man was not Snape's father, he was about he same height, weight and had the same sulky, pouting face. This was a picture of Snape's family. In it the woman was smiling while holding the boys' hand, Severus was looking nervously up and smiling awkwardly and the man was looking at the with an annoyed expression on his face. It was labeled: "The Snape Family at the park".

He wondered what had happened to his parents, if they were still around or if they had died when Snape was a boy. It was the last family picture in the book, there was no other evidence to say that they were even alive.

He changed albums and picked up one that had _"Forever Yours" _inscribed on it. Curious he opened it up. It was a scrapbook of memories he could see. The girl in the picture looked familiar; the way they had been shot made it look she did not know that they were being taken. There were pictures of her on the swing, with another girl, eating an ice cream and playing in the snow.

Suddenly it clicked who she was; it was his mother Lily Potter. Shocked he put down the book, what was Snape doing with an album full of pictures of her? He picked it up again and kept turning the pages.

As he went further and further through the book his mother aged. There were some items as well in the scrapbook; there was a lock of red hair, a peace of blue china and some other weird random things.

The he came across an envelope; the caption under it said "How I wish I had given this to you". Opening up the envelope there was a letter inside, it wad old, very old. He folded it out and started to read.

_To My Dear Lily_

_There is nothing in this world so divine_

_You, Lily Evans are so fine_

_When I look upon you from afar_

_You stand out, like a star_

_With your hair so full of red_

_I dream about you all the time in bed_

_Anything you want, I will give_

_As much as you want, while I live_

_This is honestly how I feel_

_No lies, all is real_

_Lily, you hold my heart_

_Without you, I would fall apart_

Harry felt like vomiting, if Snape ever brought up how bad his potions where, he would bring up his poetry, what made the bad poetry even worse was that it was about his mum! But it all made sense, he had been wrong, Snape wasn't gay, he was in love with his mother.

But that was not even the end of it, there were more letters.

_Dear Severus_

_I know you do not like James. I know you hate him more then anything in this world and I wish that were not so. If you would just put your differenced aside, there is a chance of a beautiful friendship between you both. Please, for me stop your little vendetta against him before it destroys you, there is no way you can win._

_Your friend Lily. _

"Well", Harry thought to himself, "that must have been a letter to Snape when mum and dad started dating, the two of them must have been friends or something like that".

Then came the last letter, this one was folded up and had water marks on it, someone must have read it in a small rain shower.

_To Snape_

_I never want to here from you or see you again. You are nothing but a pig headed, arrogant, selfish person. You say you care about me, but how can that be? I asked you, I pleaded with you to be nicer to James, but you refuse. Then you did that horrible thing to James, you hurt both of us beyond repair, why did you look at the Dark Arts and you still hang around with those awful people? What is wrong with you seriously? Take this as the last communication you will ever receive from me, I never want to see you __again_

_Lily._

Harry stared at the letter, she was angry all right his mum. What did Snape do to anger her so much? Then again, this letter made it perfectly clear why Snape hated him so much, his mother had rejected and told him to piss off, Snape still held contempt for the girl who broke his heart.

He expected there to be nothing else after that letter but there was still more. A graduation picture and a newspaper article.

He looked at the newspaper article, taken from the _Daily Prophet. _Once again it was water marked slightly.

Horrified he read the article. It was all about his parent's death; it documented what had happened, everything. Snape, the sadistic bastard had kept the last document of his mother's life, the end of it, a final "screw you".

He tossed the book down and started fuming, Snape had hated his mother so much that he had kept the last reminder of her existence, the article that explained her horrific death, what a bastard, what dick head what a….

Then something clicked in his mind. The water marks were not from the rain, they were tear stains, stained from Snape's pity flowing out of him like a river. He had never been angry at her, he had been hurt and furious at James, but not at Lily, even after the cruel things that had been said to him by her he still loved her.

As he placed the book down back in its place he stood up. Only to be confronted by a very furious man.

"What the hell do you thing you are doing?" yelled Snape.

Harry stood there with his mouth wide open, he was about to die.

A/N: There you have it, the next installment. I apologize profusely for my poetry, I know it's terrible so don't say in the review that you are, of course going to send. Once again a big thank you to all of you wonderful reviewers, hugs and kisses to you all and an even bigger thank you to Ranekaera (could you get a more difficult name?) for the great story idea! So review people and keep my inbox full. Till next time. Taryn.


	12. The Man Behind the Mask

"_There is more to the truth then just facts"- Unknown Author_

One Angry Snape

"What the hell do you think you are doing?" yelled Snape.

It was at that second that Harry knew he was about to die, the look of fury in Snape's eyes was the scariest thing that he had ever had to confront and he had confronted a lot.

Every vein on Snape's pale face was standing out, including the ones in his neck. His usually pale, anaemic looking face had taken on a deadly shade of red in the cheeks and his eyes were flashing with anger so violent, Harry almost wet his pants.

Snape leaned forward; Harry cowered back, thinking he was going to receive the worst beating of his entire life. Instead, Snape just snatched the scrapbook from Harry's hands.

"How dare you look through my personal belongings! This has to be the lowest thing you have ever done. Why I should fillet you like a fish, I knew something like this was going to happen". Snape screamed.

Harry stood there shocked, he had seen Snape annoyed, but had never seen him so violently angry. He was shaking with wrath and the withheld anger that was threatening to boil over.

Snape looked down at the book, still open at the page that held the news article about Lily Potter's death. He started to tremble and to Harry's surprise he burst into tears.

Snape slunk down to the floor, looking at the picture of the one woman that he had loved and just kept bawling his eyes out. Harry just stood there stunned, not sure what to do, there was nothing he knew about dealing with hysterically crying, angry Potions teachers. Care of Magical Creatures really should consider it.

Despite his better knowledge he made a step towards the sobbing figure on the ground. He knelt down next to him and put an awkward hand forward as if to comfort him.

Snape's head snapped up and he saw Harry's outstretched hand coming towards his teary face. Suddenly the pitiful version of Snape was gone and the angry version back. He started to yell at Harry, telling him to go away before he trailed off again into sobs.

Harry fled from the room. He was scared. He ran back into his room, leaving Snape alone in the library.

"Shit", he thought to himself, if girls were half as difficult to understand as Snape he would be in so much trouble. Then he thought to himself, he had just seen Snape the hard ass break down crying over a news article! Did he have blackmail or what, with what he had accumulated over the last day and a bit there was no way he would be failing potions, he would just have to threaten Snape with telling the ENTIRE school that he had been seen crying, as well as recounting the entire love poem a teenage Snape had written for a certain women.

Snape sat slumped against the wall in the library, his head in his hands, looking at the news article. It had been so long since he had been through this scrapbook. It held so many memories for him, some good, some not so good, but they were all important to him as they all involved Lily Evans.

He couldn't bear to call her Lily Potter, it hurt too much to think of that bastard lying in bed with Lily, having children with her and being able to call her his wife. It was the one thing that Snape had wanted in his life, that goal had been to make Lily Evans his.

He thought about the last letter she had sent him, the one telling him how much she hated him and that she never wanted anything to do with him, that one still hurt a lot, cut through his soul like a knife through butter.

He remembered the events leading up to that one heart breaking letter she had sent him.

_It was a warm day in his last year at school. He and Lily had always been friends, growing up together almost. He had always agreed with her about James Potter, Lily couldn't stand him, she hated the fact that he was so arrogant, a typical popular teenage boy, she hated his attitude towards people like Severus who were just trying to fit in and how he treated all the girls around him like sex objects. _

_Severus loved hearing her criticize his least favourite person. But then it all changed, she went from ignoring and complaining about his constant remarks about how much he, James, wanted her as his girlfriend. Instead it became the highlight of her day, when she heard his first comment for the day; she was on an immediate high, filled with the joy and happiness that that one comment would bring her._

_Snape was shocked with how much she was turning into one of them, one of those girls that did nothing more but giggle at James as he would show off on his broom and that kind of thing. _

_It started off subtly, she would say randomly that he was looking good or he would say something and she would blush, just little things that happened that Snape missed almost completely until she became just another girl who would bend over backwards for James Potter. _

_Then James asked her out and she said yes. That was to Snape, possibly the second worst day of his life. He would watch her sitting with James, with his friends, laughing in his lap and smiling or sitting alone with him in a secluded part of the school grounds and holding his hand and looking at him with that look, the same look that Snape had for her, the same one that he wished for more then anything would be returned by her one day. _

_He remembered the jealousy that accompanied. It burnt in him like an Indian curry laden with garam masala, basically it burnt really hot inside his soul (_A/N: Garam Masala is an Indian Spice that is HOT as but really nice)

_He had to think of a way to break them up, he was tired of the few times he had Lily to himself ruined by her incessant chatting about him. He just had to think of a way how, a way that Lily would never suspect a thing. _

_Being the best at potions in his year he thought of a potion he could use to help his plan. He eventually settled on the Polyjuice Potion. His plan was as followed._

_Brew the Polyjuice Potion, steal a couple of James's hair, sanitize hands after touching said persons hair, drink potion, take form of James Potter and then subsequently dump Lily in the most cruel way to make her hate James and allow her to come him. Lily would be so incredibly upset by it that she would immediately come to Snape for sympathy and he would eventually, of course in his real form, look after her and show what an ass he really is, and if his luck took a turn for the best he would be able to score Lily and permanently put Lily of James. It was perfect and most importantly, it was fool proof. _

_While he was brewing his potion he of course would constantly put down Lily, making her angry with him, where she sent the first letter telling him that he had to be nice to James as they were not that unalike. In Snape's opinion, the only thing that they had in common was that they had the same taste in girls and hated the toothpaste that was at Hogwarts. _

_Finally his potion was ready, now came the hard part, he had to get the hair off James. This was the part he was not looking forward to. He eventually came up with a plan. He would start a fight with James and steal some of his hair by pulling some out, but he never needed to, dear sweet Lily once again came to his rescue. _

_He as usual met with Lily at there weekly get together. To Lily, it was more a chore then anything else now; all it involved was sitting with Snape alone and listening to him grumble about James and talk about his potions. _

_Lily had come from hanging around with James when she went to meet Snape. She sat down next to him and Snape immediately noticed a couple of black hairs on her robes, it was summer so he must be molting, just like any other common animal. Eventually after talking for a little while, Lily stood up to leave, Snape stood up as any respectable gentleman would when a lady stands. He had to get off those hairs in the most unobvious way._

"_Hold on Lily, there is a spider or something on your shoulder!" Snape said, trying to find a way to get the hairs._

"_Oh my God", Lily cried, scared as most stereotypical girls are of spiders, "please Sev, get it off"._

_It was as easy as taking candy from a baby, Snape just simply walked up to her and grabbed a couple of hairs off her back, making it look like he was removing a spider from her person. _

_Lily full of gratitude ran off smiling, leaving a very happy Snape, happy that he could finally finish of that potion, but also sad, he didn't want to upset her too much but knew he had to make it good if he wanted to make a lasting impression on the poor girl. _

_He made his move the next day, he took the prepared draught of potion into the bathrooms, it was only then that he prayed that he hadn't picked up the hair of Lily's pet cat, that would really not make his life very easy and it would just give Potter and his cronies another reason to tease him. _

_He drank the draught, within seconds he could feel himself changing, he could feel his fairly skinny body bulking up with muscle and he could almost feel the popularity flowing out of him. He had chosen a time when James and Sirius were in detention, though it was not like it was a difficult time to find a time when they were, they almost had seats reserved for them in the dungeon. _

_He walked out; he felt confidence and power he had never had before. He had been outside of the bathroom for not even thirty seconds and people were already smiling at him and acknowledging his presence, something that he never experienced before, people were actually being friendly towards him, they were not sneering, poking fun at him, they were just being, well, human towards him. Now he just had to go and find Lily. _

_It didn't take him long to find her. He was walking down the corridor and out into the court yards where all of his year hung out when he saw her. Lily came rushing up to him and to Snape's astonishment and surprise she planted a kiss on his cheeks and wrapped her arms around him. _

_Snape was completely knocked off balance by this. In his head he was singing with happiness, his heart full of elation at his first kiss, he hadn't even thought about it, it just kind of sucked that he had to trick her into kissing him by dressing as her boyfriend, not something you would want to tell your kids about. _

_She lent back and gazed up into his eyes, her face beaming._

"_What's up James? I haven't seen you in ages honey". She said smiling._

"_Yeah, um, I have been kind of busy". Snape replied, still feeling uneasy. _

"_Oh Doing what? If it's homework I can give you a hand if you want". _

"_Look, Lily, we need to talk". _

"_Oh about what? Come on tell me I'm interested now". She said smiling._

_God, he thought to himself, that smile still made him queasy in his stomach._

"_Look we need to break up". Taking a deep breath he went into the speech that he had prepared earlier._

"_I have dated you know. I can scratch you off the list of girls that I have that I need to date. I am sorry Lily, its been fun, but look you don't really mean anything to me, it's just a game that Sirius and I have, I have been trying to get you for years and you finally came, I win now, I no longer need you so its over. No hard feelings?" As he was saying this he hated himself even more, he was humiliating Lily in front of the entire student body, everyone was there apart from the real James Potter and Sirius. _

_Lily's lip trembled and she started to gasp for air, like she was hyperventilating._

"_You mean the last four years, all those things that you said everything that you did, was just a stupid, idiotic game?" She said, her voice getting higher and higher. "You James Potter, are the worst human being I have ever met, you're a complete bastard, the world's biggest prat, a …." _

_Snape heard her voice but the words never made it into his mind. All he could see, all he could feel was a very heart broken young woman that was in an incredible amount of pain. _

_Lily ran off crying, her friends followed her, calling after her. Snape looked behind him at the entire student body who had just witnessed the public humiliating of one of the sweetest girls in the entire school. Once again he felt the hate and anger that he was used to, only good thing about it was that it was directed at James and not at him. Another good thing about this would be that there would be that James would never get another girlfriend while he was at school; there was not a girl in the area who was feeling any sympathy or positive emotions towards him. _

_He ran off quickly, he had taken enough potion to last about forty five minutes, just enough time to find Lily, break up with her and get back to the bathroom before he changed back into his real form. _

_He arrived in the bathroom in just enough time to rush into a stall and feel his body come back to the one he was so familiar with. He looked back down at his hands; the familiar skeletal whiteness was back. _

_He walked out and immediately went in search of Lily. It took him ages to find her; she was probably in the bathroom with her friends. Eventually he found her and the sight that he saw made him feel even worse about what he had done. _

_Lily looked terrible. Her cheeks were tear stained and puffy and her eyes were red and she looked blotchy and just plain miserable. _

"_Oh Severus", she wailed, "you were right all along", referring to Snape telling her that James had not changed and was just as arrogant and cruel as before, "he did the most awful thing to me, he.." she trailed off and once again started crying all over again. _

_She fell into his arms so easily, to Snape; it was almost as amazing as when she had kissed only about half an hour ago. Except this time it was him she was hugging, not a body that enclosed his mind. _

_Snape just held her while she cried into his shoulder, her tears soaking the shoulder of his robe, but he didn't care. _

"_It's okay, I heard what happened, the entire school is talking about it. I hate to say I told you do, if only you listened to me this would have never happened". Snape said, trying to comfort the weeping girl. _

"_I'm sorry, I know I am an idiot, I should have known, once a prat, always a prat, he will always be an arrogant prat. I hope he never gets another girl friend, or if he does she does the same thing to him and then he can see just how terrible it is to feel this way". _

_From then Lily kept on crying into Snape's shoulder, Snape, while he felt terrible for the amount of pain that he had caused her, he was so incredibly elated at the outcome, it wouldn't be long before it was he who would be dating Lily and he would treat her with the respect and kindness that she truly deserved. _

_They parted and went off to their separate individual classes, Snape sat in his Transfiguration class and did not absorb a single ounce of information, he just sat there and day dreamed about the turn that his life had just taken. _

_But all was not smooth, he learnt later on from gossip what happened in the History class the Gryffindor's had. _

_Lily had walked into the class and had sat down at the front of the class with her usual girl friends. James had walked in just on time with Sirius, laughing and chatting to his friend. _

_Lily had turned around and seeing James had immediately turned around. James waved and immediately felt shut down when he had seen Lily completely ignore him and give him the filthiest look of his life. Confused he went and sat down with Remus and Sirius._

_Remus was abnormally quiet, he had seen the whole display between "James" and Lily and was not impressed with his friend. He personally thought that despite James's numerous character flaws he would never go as low as hurting Lily in that way, Remus never saw it coming, he didn't know of this game either so he also felt kind of betrayed._

_James was confused, everyone in the room was looking at him, he looked around and couldn't work out why the entire class was staring at him in such a strange way. Snape laughed at this, thinking how awkward he would have felt, the same way the Snape did when he walked into a room full of __them. _

_After class, James had walked out, he was sick of the stares, whispering and Lily ignoring him. What had he done?_

_Snape saw the part that took place next, he didn't hear this bit in the gossip that floated around the school. He watched James rush up to Lily and grab her by the arm:_

"_Lily, what's going on, people are acting so weird". James asked._

"_Like you don't know, you pretentious little prat". Lily snapped back. _

"_What! What do you mean? I haven't done anything, Lily, what is going on?" James stressed, really worried that something bad had happened. _

"_Well James, let's recap our last meeting at break. You dumped me, humiliated me and said that the only reason you dated me was because of some stupid and game that you and your idiotic friend play. Oh and you said that I am nothing more then another notch in your belt". Lily yelled, furious, way past the pity stage. _

"_Have you gone mad? I was in detention the whole of break, Sirius and I were caught duelling with some of those useless Slytherins, you can ask anyone, I was there the whole time, I just got out in time to get to class. Look, you must be feeling sick or something if you're hallucinating, let's go to the sick bay; Madame Pomfrey might be able to help you. _

"_Didn't you just hear me?! I hate you, I never want to talk to you again, I…?" Confused Lily stopped her rant._

"_You were in detention?" Lily asked, something didn't seen right._

"_Yeah, why would I dump you? I have spent a good portion of my life trying to get you, I may me insensitive sometimes but I would never hurt you". James said, holding her hand._

"_Who would do such a thing?" Lily wondered to herself, then it hit her, it's the kind of thing that Severus would do._

_She looked over to Snape, who had been watching this. The look on his face confirmed her thought, the look of guilt on his face and rage made it plainly obvious what had happened. _

_That was the last time Snape remembered her ever talking to him, the last thing that happened was her sending that letter to him, the memory still hurt him. How he wished it had worked and he hadn't turned the one person he loved against him. That's what hurt the most. _

Coming back to the present, Snape looked down at his hands and the album. His anger had gone and all what had been replaced had been the guilt and pain. He felt terrible, he shouldn't be blaming Harry, he had sent the boy to the library, it was his own fault, he should have removed the albums and put them in his room, of course the boy was going to be curious; he had no memories of his mum.

Harry sat alone in his room, he was shaking with fear, what was Snape going to do to him, he really was scared, he had never seen him so angry and everyone knows that it's a stupid idea to get a Death Eater angry.

Then there was a knock on his door. Snape didn't wait for Harry to call him, he just charged straight in.

"Look, Sir, I'm really sorry, I know I shouldn't have looked through your personal items, but I couldn't put it down I was so curious, I saw my mum and well I just wanted to know more about him, I.." Harry started.

Snape held up a hand so as to make him stop talking.

"I understand. I don't want to talk about this ever again. You are not going to tell anyone about this." Snape commanded and paused, here came the hard part.

"I'm sorry Potter, I shouldn't have been so angry, but you need to learn some boundaries". Snape said, that was the hardest thing that he had ever had to do.

Harry stared with his mouth open, it wasn't everyday you saw a miracle. He had not only seen Snape the hard ass cry, but also apologise.

Snape did not stick around, he turned around on his heel and walked out. Leaving a very stunned Harry behind.

A/N: Voila, I have prepared another chapter for your excitement. Once again please review, I know A LOT of you are not reviewing as I can read your minds (nothing to do with the statistics button at all) so please review, it is awesome, those of you who are favouriting my story, I LOVE you all. Thanks so much and don't give up on me. I promise there will be a lot more drama between Harry and Snape, just wait till next week.

Taryn.


	13. Punishment With Snape

A/N: Just so everyone knows this is NOT a slash fic no matter what happens in this chapter or how it comes across, Snape and Harry were not meant for each other and neither is gay and in my stories they will never be in a romantic relationship of their own accord. See end of chapter for usual authors note and ENJOY and REVIEW.

_Trust has to be earned, not given out free of charge- Graeme Mackenzie Clark _

Punishment With Snape

Harry could not believe he was still alive. He had just survived a confrontation with Snape that should have ended in a death, most probably his. Even more surprisingly, Snape had actually apologised, he had better ring The Vatican and tell the Pope that a miracle had just been performed, what a bugger there was no one else around to witness it.

He sat there and pondered what had happened in the library, reflecting on Snape's memoirs and also the way Snape had reacted. There was more to Snape then what met the eye.

On the surface he was a miserable, bitter man, but on the inside he was more then that. There was of course, the misery and the bitterness, but there was also the broken heart, sentimentality, the longing to fit in and the high intelligence that also made Snape who he was. There is no black and white where Snape was concerned, there was no defined place where the bitter Snape and the awkward boy who could never fit in joined. That was simply because they were the same, but also different people.

Harry sighed and put his head in his hands, he was starting to sound like a psychologist, he was still analyzing Snape and nothing that he could think of made sense. Professor Dumbledore once said that he and Snape had a lot in common, just as his mother had said that Snape and James had had a lot in common. Snape hadn't listened to Lily, possibly the worst and most life changing decision that he would ever make and look where he ended up.

He was a miserable man, the one woman he cared about had been taken from him and he was not trusted despite the risks he had taken in the final War. Maybe if he had of taken Lily's advice and tried to have made friends or at least a truce with James, he never would have ended up in the predicament he was in right now.

Harry decided he was not going to make the same mistake. He didn't want to be Snape's best mate, but he could meet him halfway between mortal enemies and best friends he was sure, they could just be acquaintances that had no negative energy between them.

Harry made a decision that he was going to be better to Snape then; he was going to understand him more, but to understand him more he was going to need to know more about him. He was going to have to go back to the library and read some more of Snape's life, the greasy git, damn he was meant to be nice to him, his host would probably have removed the books but it was worth a try, he would probably think that Harry wouldn't dare try that night but he might the next morning. It was worth a shot, Harry decided, he would try that night when Snape would be in bed and if there was nothing there he would just go back to bed and Snape would be none the wiser.

Harry went down for dinner at the usual time. It was even more awkward then usual. Ava must have known what was going on, Harry couldn't keep his mind off what he had seen and with her skills in Occlumency there was no way she wouldn't know what was going on, the thundercloud that was still being worn on Snape's face was a clear indication that all was not right.

Ava watched in silence, she was not happy that the two were not talking, she was hoping that it would only have taken two days for the two to start a friendship but the stony silence between the two and intense animosity was a sign that something she had not factored in had happened.

Dumbledore had asked her personally to over see the two starting a friendship, but the way it was going she would have more luck getting blood from a stone, the two were just too stuck in their ways. Hopefully what she had planned for tomorrow would make some progress between the two. She just sat there observing the two and trying to make plans.

Snape played with his Spaghetti Bolognese and mused over what he was going to do. Harry had seen way to much of his emotional side, the side that he had taken so much care to keep under control, he was a Death Eater for Christ's sake, he was not meant to be a pathetic moron and cry over his lost love, especially cry over it in front of the son of his mortal enemy.

He tried thinking if it was worth removing the albums and his other personal memorabilia from the library, but then again, he thought to himself, he had scared Harry almost to the point of wetting his pants, there was no way Harry would be stupid enough to pull another stunt like that again…possibly.

After dinner the trio split up and went to there respectful domains, Harry to his room, Snape to his and Ava to the kitchen. Harry thought it would be a good time to write some letters, he would write one to Ron, he could tell Ron everything, he would just have to hope that Ron would keep his mouth shut and not tell the world about the last couple of days. Pulling out a piece of parchment paper and a quill he started his letter.

_Hi Ron_

_Yes I am still alive, managed to survive a whole two nights (almost) at Snape's. You would not believe this guys house. He has a MANSION basically, it's huge and the décor is something that Lavender Brown would approve of, I am no expert in that kind of stuff but the guy's stylish for a goon. _

_Okay, you probably want to know everything that has happened, all the horrible things that have happened to me, like him pulling my fingernails out with tweezers, but nothing to painful has happened of yet. _

_Now you have to promise me that you will not tell anyone this, or show anyone this letter, in fact as soon as you've read it, make sure that you destroy it._

_I have just seen Snape crying. Long story short I found a journal of his that had a lot of his memorabilia in it .It turns out the guy is capable of caring for people, in fact he used to have a bit of a thing for my mum._

_What happened was this: I was reading the journal in the library (which contained some really bad poetry by the way) and he walks in and sees me reading it. He chucks a full mental at me and grabs the book off me. He then looks down and sees the page that I am on is the one about my parents death and starts crying, the crying Snape is actually scarier then the normal screaming psychopathic Snape. I try to comfort me and he turns back into Freddie Krueger and starts doing the whole angry scene again, I go to my room and sit there wondering for awhile if I will ever see my next birthday when he walks in. _

_Then the weirdest part happens. He apologises to me, yes that was not just bad spelling/grammar but he actually apologised, though he did say that if I told anyone I would be in a LOT of trouble. Another reason not to tell anyone, his version of being in "trouble" I bet will not be giving me a spanking._

_Well that's about it, though he has a really nice house elf, called Ava, she a descendant of the elves that worked for the Delacroix family, you might know them or be interested, if not just ignore this. She's cool, kind of weird but nice enough and a great cook. _

_Till next time, if I can survive another week…_

_Harry _

He folded the parchment and tied it to Hedwig's leg and sent her off. He had exaggerated a bit, he thought to himself, but he had to keep Ron entertained and let him know how serious it was that he kept this to himself, or he definitely would not be seeing his next birthday if Snape had anything to do with it.

Harry went to bed, making sure he set an alarm on his watch so he would wake up to look through the library. He rolled over and went into a deep dreamless sleep, a sleep that he found a refuge from the problems of the day light.

He woke up with a start at two in the morning, he sat up quickly and tried to work out what the loud beeping sound was, with the blood still pumping violently though his head and his heart beating a violent drumming pattern into his chest he realised it was his alarm and switched it off.

Getting dressed into a jumper and pants he walked out of his room, his thick woollen socks on his feet that were perfect for making a silent move across the manor.

He eventually arrived at the library and went over to the section that contained Snape's personal items. He looked around, looking for a trap that he might have set but he couldn't find anything that looked suspicious. He then sat down, chose an album and began to read.

The first album he chose was nothing special, a bunch of random photos a house and other landscaped, from what he could work out Snape was quite the lover of photography and had dabbled in his own works, some Harry noted, were actually really good, a lot of the works were really violent pictures, the ones that he had drawn but the photographs were all of romantic things like the sea and Botanical Gardens.

The next one that he picked up was a small thin book that was laden in dust, it was Snape's journal. Harry opened it to a random a page and looked at the date; he made it to be around the time that Snape would have been at school in his third or fourth year.

_Once again it was a dreary day of potions. Professor Slughorn really seems to like Lily; he is forever giving her the most attention when he is not yelling at Potter and Black about acting like larrikins…_

Boring! Harry thought to himself; there had to be something in this thing that was more interesting then Snape just blubbering on about his mother and whinging about his father, the man had little else in his life, no wonder know one liked him, he was such a bore with a one track mind.

Then Harry came across an entry that caught his eye.

_Finally it has happened. Dear old Dad has finally killed himself. Not that I am complaining, this has to be the best day of my life. Apparently he was drunk at the local muggle bar and somehow found himself fighting a young man half his age and twice his strength and was flattened by him_

_The bastard hit his head on the ground and he died as a result of the trauma to the peanut in his cranium he referred to as his brain. Mum is apparently most upset on the surface, but I bet like me she is rejoicing like me the freedom that his death will bring the two of us. _

_I am now free, I will never have to lie about a black eye and say that I slipped and hit my head on a chair or fall down hard in front of everyone to cover the bruises and deep cuts he would leave on my knees from hitting me with his belt. Never again will I have to be clumsy like I was in primary school to hide the wounds, at least coming to Hogwarts and being far away from him meant know one ever knew that, I, Severus Snape had an abusive father that I can now safely say that I have survived._

_I am not sad, I am thankful, I'm glad he's dead. But I'll still take the day off that I have been given to deal with the "grief" that I should be showing._

Harry looked at this entry, reading it and re-reading it. Snape was an abused child, no wonder he was so miserable and gloomy. He was told once that there are two ways to deal with that kind of situation. Either let it eat away at you and take it out on someone every now and then or maintain a happy demeanour and wait till you snap later on.

Snape was the first one; he was so angry and gloomy because of what had happened to him as a child. He had had the same childhood as Harry growing up and Harry could relate to what Snape was feeling. To feel unloved and like you cannot go to anyone for help because of the embarrassment it will cause for you, and the guilt that it causes for the person you tell is huge, no wonder Snape never told, what a terrible burden to carry all the same.

There was another entry after that one, dated about another week after the first.

_I am a liar. I had to stand up in front of the small congregation that came to the funeral and lie about how much I missed my father and that if I was half the man he was I would be proud. I feel sick to my stomach._

Harry thought how it would feel to stand up in front of a whole bunch of people and lie about a man that you hated, leaving a false sense of love and misery on those people.

Harry's musings were interrupted by a hand wrenching him up by the collar.

"Are you slow or what? Didn't you think that you have done enough damage for the time being? What do you take me for an idiot to leave my stuff unguarded?" Snape roared.

"Well now you mention it, anyone who leaves their personal belongings around when it's already been looked through once is not very high on the evolutionary scale." Harry countered with more confidence the he truly felt, angry at himself as soon as the words had left his voice for not keeping to the promise he had made himself only a few hours before hand.

Snape looked at him, grimacing and wondering what he should do about him.

"I am going to make sure that you remember this lesson for the rest of your life". Snape said, his eyes glowing evilly with a devilish smile.

With a quick movement, Harry barely realised he was lying across Snape's lap face down with his pants pulled down around his ankles and was being spanked on his naked rear end by the Potions Master himself.

"You will never sneak in here again, you are banned from this room forever, I don't care what you need in the way of knowledge you are not welcome here". Every word that Snape said was punctuated by a slap to Harry's now very red butt.

Harry could not believe what was happening. He was actually being punished for something that he had been done that was wrong, not because he had just angered someone accidentally.

It was actually kind of funny he thought to himself, Snape was smacking his bare ass in his house. If this wasn't kinky enough what was? If anyone saw a picture of this he would have to change schools.

"Hey Snape have any costumes?" Harry asked.

Snape stopped his spanking long enough to give the boy a queer questioning look.

"Just thought since you like to play rough, you might want to try some costumes, that's all". Harry said, leering at the stunned man.

Snape resumed smacking him with increased gusto, making every smack increasingly more painful.

Finally finished Snape looked at Harry and with an even eviller smile then Harry had first seen.

Snape apparated and the two of them landed in Harry's room. Harry was still being held in Snape's arms in the bridal carry position. He then subsequently dumped Harry on the bed.

Harry started to get nervous; he did not know what was going to happen to him. Maybe Snape had taken his comment about rough play way to far. He did not want to lose his virginity to Snape, it would be social suicide and besides he was saving himself for Ginny, or at least a female.

He started to get up and off the bed, feeling very uncomfortable when Snape turned around and stunned him, paralyzing a now very terrified Harry.

"Oh Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit", he though to himself, "it was not looking good for himself. He had always been curious what it would be like to have gay sex but he never wanted to find out for himself, though he was curious if they aimed for the prostate gland as a kind of g-spot".

To make matters worse Snape appeared holding what looked like leather ropes, the kind that would be found in an adult store amongst the handcuffs and gags, Harry now knew he was not going to enjoy the next few hours of his life.

Snape bent down and put Harry into a spread eagles position, then started to tie first his hands to the head board and then his feet to the foot of the bed; the only thing that Harry could do was sit there and blink, as the tall lanky man tied him into a very embarrassing and uncomfortable position.

Snape lent over Harry when he had finished strapping to the bed and peered over at the cowering boy.

"Are we comfortable?" Snape asked, not really interested in the answer.

"Well no, not really", came the reply.

"Good that's how I like it". Snape said.

Harry gulped, dreading what was going to happen next.

"Now you will never sneak around my house at night, unless you plan on taking the bed with you".

"Huh?" thought Harry, this was all some way of keeping him out of Snape's personal life?

He laughed to himself, all this time he had thought he was going to get raped or something by the potions master, if he wasn't so scared and was about two seconds from soiling himself he would have dissolved into hysterical laughter.

Snape looked at him with a curious look on his face and then his lips curled up into an almost amused smile.

"You honestly though I would do something so repulsive to you?" Snape asked.

"Shit, forgot he was good at that occlumency stuff", Harry thought amazedly.

"Potter, for the last time, I am NOT GAY, I can't believe that you still think I am gay. Oh well, sleep tight Potter, I'll be back in the morning to untie you."

Snape threw a blanket over Harry and left the room, leaving a very stunned Harry behind.

"Shit, this is so not my day". Harry thought to himself, "but it will make an interesting story to tell Ron… if he ever stops laughing about it.

A/N: This chapter took literally about three hours to post because fanfiction is being annoying so you should all be thankful. But just so you know, the prostate gland gimmick is something Hopeless Lady Dreamer said to me a little while ago in class, so thanks for that! Once again please review, I do know how many of you are reading and not reviewing so please, make a very stressed teenage girl happy and take two seconds to press that review button, yes the one in the left hand corner and REVIEW!! Please? puts on a cute desperate face. Thanks guys, until next time. Taryn


	14. Picnic With Snape

Sorry for the late update, but if there is a God he hates me and so do the fanfic people as they wouldn't let me update as well as the exam people at home because I have those coming up…if you wish to here me rant further send me a message as I am more then happy to oblige but read the story anyway and REVIEW PLEASE.

A Picnic with Snape

Harry woke up and tried to get out of bed. Then it all came flooding back, the whole terrifying ordeal of last night. He was in so much pain; he felt like his body had solidified into a concrete block, there was not one muscle that seemed to be working properly.

After his night of not being able to move he was feeling it deep in his bones. Snape better come and untie him REAL soon or he was going to have to drag the bed and find him, something he wasn't sure he was capable of doing.

He lay there staring at the ceiling and using his psychic powers to try and summon Snape to him. He wasn't a psychic, after lying there for almost half an hour there was a knock on the door. Seething he turned his head to yell at Snape.

"You greasy, grimy son of a bitch! When I get…" He started before realising it was Ava who just walked through the door.

Ava stood still, stunned, looking at Harry, not to sure what to make of his situation.

"What on earth happened here Harry? Did you have a… friend over to…um…play last night." Ava asked uneasily, not sure what she should say, the whole situation looked very awkward, a boy strapped to his bed in a very compromising position, it looked like the poor boy had been done over by a very evil prostitute.

"You're not wrong, you wouldn't believe what Snape did; he did evil things to me!" Harry complained.

Ava's eyes just opened up real wide; she could not believe her ears, she had wanted Snape and Harry to be friends, she did not want to think what Dumbledore would do to her if he heard that Harry and Snape were now a couple.

"Oh, that's nice Harry; though you might want to keep the details to yourself, it won't do any good for either of your reputations, if those kinds of goings on get out…" Ava warned.

"What do you mean? If those kinds of things get out?" Harry questioned, not sure how Snape abusing him was going to hurt his reputation, then it clicked in his mind how it seemed to Ava.

"No! EW, that's disgusting!" He yelled, "What I mean is that Snape tied me up after he found me snooping around, kind of a preventative if you think about it".

"Oh" was all that came out of Ava's mouth. She untied Harry using her usual magic and left the room silently, still taking in what had just happened.

Harry walked down the stairs later on, ready for breakfast.

He sat down in his usual place and helped himself to the stack of waffles on the table. Snape didn't even look up; he just buried himself further into the _Daily Prophet_ and tried not to notice Harry.

Harry scowled and dug into his food, he had expected at least a sneer from the bastard, or even a rude comment about the incident last night, but no, the greasy haired git just read that flaming paper.

Ava looked between the two, it was time for her to get involved with the two and start instigating a relationship, preferably a straight one, she still had the thought of Harry and Snape together in her head and it scared her.

"Well Harry and Master Snape, since it is a lovely day outside", which it was, all sunny and warm. "I thought it would be a good idea that we should go out for a picnic together and celebrate the near end of a lovely day, we won't get many more clearer, beautiful days like this with winter fast approaching". She said with a smile, hopeful they would accept without too much fuss.

Snape glanced up, only sparing a second to send a death glare at Harry.

"Ava, while it is a nice suggestion, I have plans here that I would like to attend to that fortunately do not involve Harry". Snape said, declining the offer.

Ava sighed, this was going to be a lot harder then she thought.

"Master, your plans of reading a book and playing solitaire by yourself do not constitute any decent plans to me, you will be coming on this picnic, it will do you some good, put some colour into your rather pale complexion." Ava argued.

"That is where you are wrong, I do not have to come on a little picnic, by all means take the boy with you, it will keep him out of my sight for a little while, but I intend on enjoying some alone time here". Snape said, with a layer of poison on his acidic tongue.

Ava stood up to her full height, not exactly a domineering figure when you are a grand total of one metre tall and looked Snape straight in the eye.

"You will be coming for a picnic, you are going to be social for on day in your miserable life and you are going to enjoy it, this poor boy is probably bored sick in this miserable manor, so for once in your life, do something smart!" Ava stated calmly, hoping the message would get through her master's thick head.

"Fine". Was all that Snape would say, before going back to his paper, flushed from the embarrassment of being told off by his servant? He would not have taken that if he was at school, but for some reason Ava seemed to be above it, sometimes he wasn't sure who the master of the house was.

Ava then turned her attention to Harry.

"So will you be accompanying us on our picnic?" Ava asked nicely, with just a hint of a dare for Harry to dare try and cross her.

Harry wasn't stupid, he had just seen her beat Snape into submission, he didn't want to suffer the same fate, besides it was a nice day and he wouldn't mind going out and getting some sunshine.

"Yeah of course, I'd love to go". Harry replied, smiling snidely at Snape who just glared back.

"Good, at least there is one male around here that is easy to deal with" Ava said, sending a glare at Snape who just sank further and further back into his chair.

Ava told them that they would be going to a park that was quite a little walk away from the manor and that it was a bit of popular hang out for wizarding families.

Both Snape and Harry and looked at each other and for once they agreed with each other. Neither wanted to go to a public place together with a mad house elf, it would be social suicide for Harry and it would just be bad for Snape.

Less then half an hour later the trio were walking in silence away from the house, Snape carried the picnic basket and Harry carrying the picnic rug while Ava trotted along smiling, thoroughly enjoying herself.

After what felt like an eternity to Harry they came to the park at last. Ava had chosen a spot that was fairly secluded from the rest of the world. It was behind the lake and down a bit on a hill, but it had an absolutely majestic view over the forest below.

"Let's set up here shall we? This seems like the perfect place". Ava said with a smile.

Harry and Snape spread the rug out while Ava started to set up the morning tea.

Harry's eyes bugged out as he saw what was in the picnic basket. It was not a normal one of course, it resembled more of a bottomless pit, and there was so much in it, including an umbrella and a mini fridge.

Harry couldn't believe his eyes as just more and more stuff came rolling out. Ava had really outdone her self with the amount of food that she had brought. There were biscuits, cakes, donuts, scones with fresh cream and jam and about a million other delicious things, all Harry could do was look at it and drool.

Eventually they were allowed to sit down and eat. Harry was in heaven, food was everything to a boy his age, this was all he wanted in life, sitting on the warm sun happily with an endless supply of food around him, there was no way this moment could be destroyed he thought to himself, but of course he was proved wrong for at that very moment in time, who else was to come up to him but the Malfoy family complete with the little weasel.

"Severus, it is so good to see you, I hope you are enjoying your break. But tell me my friend, is there a reason there is Potter with you? Surely a man of your stature does not need to take a job as a nanny to supplement his income? I pray he is toilet trained, though I highly doubt he would be, half bloods have no class, with the exception of you of course Severus" came Lucius Malfoy's silky voice.

"Yes it is good to see you Lucius, no I am not babysitting Potter, I have been forced by Albus to set an example for him, Albus believes that without a proper father figure in his life Potter might not develop into an adjusted member of society, though in my opinion I believe that he is beyond help", replied Snape, pleased to finally have a sympathetic ear to talk to about his dislike of the position he had been put into.

Ava piped up and asked the Malfoy's if they would like to take a seat, being the gracious house elf she was. Much to Harry's disgust they did.

"Draco dear, why don't you and Harry go off and play and let us adults talk?" Narcissa said.

"You have got to be joking mum! There is no way in a thousand year I am going to 'play' with Potter! I would rather kiss a mudblood." Yelled Malfoy, upset.

"Nonsense, don't be rude to our hosts, you must be a man and look after that poor orphan, even he deserves to have some kind of frienship". Narcissa countered.

Malfoy looked to his dad for support. Lucius shrugged his shoulders and threw him a Frisbee and motioned for his shocked son to go away.

"Well Potter, it's just you and me, will the joys of this world never cease?"

"Shut up Malfoy, do you really think I want to spend an almost perfect day with you? I would prefer to hang out with Snape then with you".

Malfoy pouted and threw the Frisbee right at Harry.

"Here play with yourself, I'm going to see if I can find something worthwhile to do other then play with the likes of you". Malfoy spat, running off as fast as he could.

Harry stood there with the Frisbee; this brought back so many memories. It was like this all the time at school, having a cousin like Dudley who constantly turned people against him and didn't let him with him or let other kids play with Harry. Harry was used to playing alone and it wasn't like he was exactly looking forward to playing with Malfoy, but it would have been better then looking like some retard trying to play frisbeee on his own.

It wasn't long before he saw Lucius and his wife walking off. It was finally safe to go and sit back with Snape and Ava.

He sat down, receiving a smile from Ava.

"So how was playing with that Malfoy boy?" Ava asked.

"It lasted way to long" was all that Harry would say about it.

They started to eat, digging into the lunch that had been created by Ava, who knows how she was able to keep the roast chicken warm.

"Why don't we play some cards?" Ava asked. "It will be a nice bonding exercise for us all".

"I'm good Ava; I might just sit here and have a nap". Snape said, lying down on the rug.

"Nonsense, there is no way you are going to waste a perfectly good day by having a nap, that's what the night is for!" Ava said, already dealing the cards.

Grumbling Snape sat up and picked up the cards that had been dealt him.

"So what delightful game are we playing?" Snape asked sarcastically.

"Don't use that tone with me mister, I thought we would play a nice game of Go Fish, or if anyone else has any other ideas I am open to suggestions". Ava said, snapping at Snape.

"That's cool, I like Go Fish". Harry said

They set to playing, but it wasn't going to be the ideal tranquil game of Ava's imagination.

"Hey! That's not fair, you're reading my mind!" Harry objected, finally working out why Snape was winning game after game by picking the exact card that Harry had in his hand.

"If your mind wasn't so open I wouldn't be able to see what you're holding". Snape said in his usual calm drawling voice.

"My mind isn't open". Harry shouted, getting angry.

"Oh my mistake, it must be weak then. Did you know that you spend a lot of time thinking about Jessica Alba?" Snape countered.

"Get out of my head! Ava make him stop!" Harry said furious at having his mind been seen through.

"Would you two cut it out? You bicker like little children, Master Snape grow up and Harry if you ignore him he won't pick on you, honestly it's like have two little kids!" said a rather frustrated Ava.

"Fine I wont if he won't", they said together in unison.

They sat back down to a very silent and stony game.

Harry then just had the urge to sing, he had the most annoying song stuck in his head, though he hadn't heard it in quite some time.

He started to hum it, tapping along with his fingers to the beat, much to the amusement of Ava's and the anger of Snape's.

He tried to contain himself, he knew that singing that song was not going to do anything for the thin ice that he and Snape were already on but he couldn't help himself and started to belt it out. 

_Hey hey, you you_

_I don't like your girlfriend_

_No way, no way_

_I think you need a new one_

_Hey hey, you you_

_I could be your girlfriend_

_Hey hey, you you_

_I know that you like me_

_No way, no way_

_I know it's not a secret_

_Hey hey, you, you_

_I want to be your girlfriend_

He looked up to see a Snape that was looking at him with both eye brows raised as if bemused by his charge's perculiar antics.

Harry seeing that he had annoyed him, thought he might as well keep going.

Snape raised his wand and cast a spell that turned Harry over and planted him firmly into the ground.

Harry could here Ava's angry yells at Snape in her high squeaky voice. He couldn't make out what Snape was saying, his voice was to deep and was not getting through the ground. But whatever it was he seemed to have given in to Ava and Harry was suddenly upright and not head first in a pile of soil.

Harry was now pretty mad, he had received a whole mouthful of soil in the mouth when he had been dumped head first. He took out his wand and tried to curse Snape.

The two were suddenly involved in a wizard duel. There were spells flying left right and centre. Snape and Harry were each blocking each other's spells and were yelling out ones of their own.

"Enough!" Ava yelled, casting her hand making the two stop dead in their tracks, stunned into silence.

"I have had more then enough of both of your juvenille behaviour, I was hoping it wouldn't come to this, but this is last straw!" Ava yelled, frustration finally boiling over.

Snape and Harry looked at each other, probably the first time the both would mutually agree on something,Ava had just lost her mind.

Ava waved her arms around, like she was making an incantation and spoke a language neither of them were familiar with.

"You two are going to have to get along with each other before the charm wheres off". She said with a smug smile.

"What do you mean?" Snape asked, dreading the answer.

"Look down", Ava replied smugly.

The two of them looked down, Harry's heart suddenly plummeted in his chest, he had hit rock bottom and started digging. The two of them were chained by the wrists by a pair of gold handcuffs.

"You have got to be joking!" Snape roared in anger, furious that he had just been chained to the one person in his life that he could not stand.

"I am not and you are going to stay stuck together until you start to get along and can work together". Ava said, amused with her handy work.

"Oh shit…." Was all that came from Harry.

A/N: Okay okay, I know this is far from a good chapter, but it had to come out and I promise the next one will be infinitly better…hopefully. Anyway review pretty please with sugar on top and I guarantee the next chapter will be the best damn thing. Till next time.


	15. Till Trust Do Us Part

So sorry that last chapter sucked a lot, this one will hopefully be worth your while considering how long it has taken to be posted but I have exams on at the moment so been sort of busy. Any way, enjoy and I hope this redeems me for what I did in the last chapter.

From last chapter:

"Oh shit," was all that came from Harry.

Till Trust Do Us Part

"This can not be happening to me", Harry thought to himself as he, Snape and Ava walked back to the manor in dismal silence. He was attached to the last person in the world that he ever wanted to be near and he could see that Snape felt exactly the same way, there was not one fibre in either of their entire bodies that wanted to be together.

"They say opposites attract", Harry mused to himself, "But did they ever think that maybe they also repulsed each other as well?"

By the time they were back at the manor it was starting to get dark, winter had well and truly set in with the shorter days accompanied by the now prevalent cold wind.

Ava turned around and looked at them with a smile. She was so amused at her handy work, her mother would have thought that what she had done was unethical and against the code of conduct that house elves obeyed. But in Ava's mind she was not a house elf, she was biologically half a house elf but she was also half human and besides, she considered herself more of a companion that did chores as opposed to a servant.

She wondered how long it would be before the two arrogant males would be able to get along and break the charm. She was sure that Snape would not be able to break the charm no matter how powerful a wizard he was, he would be to scared of using a spell that was to strong and blowing both his and Harry's arms across the room and besides her magic, being a house elf was different to a wizards and was stronger, in a way it was the house elves who were the superior race, so why where they serving humans?

But what if Snape and Harry couldn't get along? What was she going to do? She was under strict instructions by Professor Dumbledore that the two had to come to an understanding of each other before each could be completely happy, the animosity between the two was more then enough to upset their mental well being and those around them.

She had to serve Dumbledore to her fullest extent, there could be no task undone, her mother would be mortified to think that she had a daughter that could not obey her master, one of the greatest people on the planet, she didn't want to shame the poor old lady more then she already had.

But there was always the chance that the puzzle of the handcuffs holding them together would provide a platform for the two to work on to undo the cuffs, once they learnt to get along well enough while trying to unravel that mystery, it will be enough to break the cuffs and set them free, but only once they learnt to get along. Or it could just end up in disaster with the manor in a million pieces and the two splattered all over the place.

Meanwhile Snape and Harry were in the sitting room staring at the handcuff, wondering what they could do to separate themselves.

"Don't worry your head Potter; we will be out of these things in a second". Snape said, "Ava is only a house elf, does she really think that her magic is a match for a wizard of my calibre and experience?"

Snape pointed his wand and lazily said "Alohamora". The cuffs started to jiggle a bit and change colour to silver and there was a small popping sound. A voice was suddenly heard, a voice that could not be either gender, to high for a male but to low for a females that was reciting a verse:

_Between you there is no trust_

_In order to break the bond it is a must_

As the verse was being recited Harry noticed that he was closer to Snape then he had thought he was before, he realised that one of the links had been removed from the chain, drawing the two closer together.

"Any more good ideas genius?" Harry said as he was expecting something more impressive then a simple spell a first year could perform.

"Patience!" roared Snape, "obviously that elf is smarter then I thought".

Snape was silent for a few seconds before thinking up something that he could use.

"This may hurt a little bit Potter, but it will work", said Snape.

Taking a few seconds to prepare himself he softly breathed the words "xekleidono".

Harry started to feel a burning sensation in his wrist, it started off just a comfortable warmth and then within about two seconds he felt like he was on fire.

"Snape stop it!" he cried.

Snape glared at him, he too was also in a lot of pain. He roared out the cooling spell "drosizo", just as there was another popping sound and that same dreary inanimate voice started to recite again just as another link was removed from the chain, closing in the gap between the two.

_Anger, distrust and Hate_

_Together they have sealed your fate_

"Clap clap for the handicap Snape, you truly are an inspiration for all us students wanting to be the best wizards around", Harry said snidely, "I should take points away from your house for not performing well, just like you would for me or Neville".

"Fine, considering you have survived Voldemort and even defeated the Dark Lord, breaking a simple charm put on by a bloody house elf should be a walk in the park", retorted an angry Snape.

Grinning Harry pointed his wand at the handcuffs, he had been taught a charm ages ago be Hermione and he had always wondered when he would ever need a charm that was stronger then "Alohamora" but he now had found a use for it, Hermione would be so happy.

In a high and mighty voice he proudly said "verbo transitivo". The cuff around the two's wrists started to swell and expand almost to the size that a wrist could be pulled out, Harry proudly looked at Snape who was turning the colour of a beetroot and smiled.

Then all of a sudden the cuffs shrunk back so quickly and the chain that was holding them together lost yet another link, bringing them closer together and then the verse started again.

_Try as hard as you must_

_Only way to break me is to be just_

"Next time Potter, don't make fun of me when you failed just as dismally as me", came the snide remark from Snape.

Ava had been watching this with amusement, they would work out eventually that the more they tried to break the chain the closer they were going to get.

Snape noticed her watching them and started to yell at her.

"What the hell do you think you are doing? This is an outrage; I am demanding you right now to undo this charm before I make you the most unhappy house elf in the entire world!" yelled an extremely angry Snape.

"How on earth do you think that you can possibly hurt me? You can't even work out how to break a simple charm!" Ava laughed, amused by her master's antics and anger. "Why should I be scared of you anyway? You can't even break a charm that a 'pathetic' house elf put on", mocking Snape, how she loved him like this.

"Just get the fucking thing off Ava", Snape said slowly, accenting every word heavily and aggressively.

"Language Snape, I have already told you how to get it off. All you need to do is get along, be civil to each other and understand one another".

"Well if you need me I will be in my room, try not to kill each other". She lightly said and ran off to her room, leaving the two very upset men together.

Snape sat there fuming while staring daggers at the receding figure of Ava walking off into the darkness.

"So what are we going to do now?" Harry asked.

"Well maybe it would be a good idea to go into the library and see if we can find something worthwhile?" Snape suggested.

"Yeah, but you banned me remember?" Harry said pouting, he knew Snape wouldn't care but he just felt like annoying him he was tired and just felt like being a difficult teenager.

"I am not even going to answer that Potter, that stupid statement does not even deserve a response", Snape replied calmly.

Together they walked in silence up to the library, it was now getting late and both were hungry and grumpy and tempers were starting to get thin.

Snape directed Harry into a section that was filled with spell books and starting to pull down a couple of volumes. Harry joined him and also started to pull down some books, after they had an arm full they went and sat at a large mahogany desk in the middle of the library.

Harry missed Hermione more then anything right at that moment. So many times he had needed a spell or an idea to do something and she had always had an answer, now he really needed her and she wasn't in sight, even Ron who was always good to work with and bounce ideas off wasn't near, all he had was Snape and Snape couldn't stand the sight of him. This holiday had really gone from bad to worse.

He flicked through the books, looking for anything that would resemble a spell or at least a remedy for the disaster he was in, but there was nothing he could see. He eventually put the book down and looked over at Snape, watching him.

Snape was looking through the index and reading at lightning speed, scanning his eyes through and flipping the pages so quickly it was like watching a machine.

Snape realised he was being watched and glanced up at Harry.

"What are you looking at? You're not doing anything, so you have found something?" Snape said grumpily.

"No, this is hopeless, I really cannot be bothered, and all I want is dinner". Harry said lazily, gazing off.

Snape opened his mouth to saying something but was beaten by Ava calling them down for dinner.

The two of the ambled down for dinner, allured by the fine aroma of homemade Spaghetti Bolognese into the dining room. Ava had changed the seating arrangement a little bit as with the current state the two of them were in, it was impossible for them to sit in their normal seats without leaning across so each other could eat properly.

Harry was to sit next to Snape on his left, as his right hand and Snape's left hand were linked. Ava sat opposite them on the other side of the long table. She served them each food, realising that they were probably incapable of serving themselves.

Harry was not sure how he was going to eat and neither was Snape. Ava just had to make Bolognese that day when they needed both hands to feed themselves.

Harry tried to eat; he was right handed naturally but wasn't able to use a fork with his right hand without having to bring Snape's hand to his mouth every time he wanted to take a bite of his food, something that he did not want to do.

Snape was equally annoyed with his situation, at least he had one hand that he was able to use comfortably, but it was still hard to use his spoon in the other hand to help him eat.

Snape and Harry eventually gave up trying to be polite with their movements and started to fight for dominance over their shared limbs. Accompanied by angry grunting sounds and various curses Snape finally yelled "ENOUGH!"

Ava was watching all this with amusement, she had purposely chosen this meal, it would mean some from of co-operation on both sides, and so far they were not doing that well with it.

"Okay, that's enough Potter! We are going to have to figure something out". Snape said.

"Whatever, got any ideas?" asked Harry.

"We can always take turns eating" suggested Snape.

"That might work" agreed Harry.

Ava was watching with more interest now, they were working together, taking turns eating, there was still hope for them at least, maybe they wouldn't be chained together quite as long as she had first feared.

Though the novelty soon wore off and the two were back at each others throats for little things. Like the other person was eating too slow or their technique on eating the spaghetti was incorrect. Ava eventually gave up and left, she had seen a glimmer of hope for them, but obviously the two were far from being separated, they still could not get along.

After they finally finished dinner which felt like an eternity they went back up to the library to continue with their research on how to separate themselves from the other.

They went back into the spell section for more information, they had gone through everything in the books they had first taken down and needed to find another source of information.

Harry was searching through until he found a small book that caught his eye, it was very slim in a faded red jacket, and the title on the spine was so faded he could only barely make out the word "house".

He opened it up to see what it was about. He saw the title on the inside cover and all of a sudden he thought that all his Christmas's had come at once as the title of the book read "A Guide to the Magic of the House Elf".

"Hey Professor Snape, look what I just found" called an excited Harry.

"What boy?" Snape snapped back, frustrated.

"Found a book on house elf magic; think it could be worth a read".

Snape suddenly interested turned around and looked at the book Harry had outstretched towards him. Snape flicked through the book until he came to a page that had listed charms performed by house elves and he started to read aloud.

"…the charms performed by a house elf are intriguing. They can range from cleaning and cooking spells to ones of more complexity. House elves have proved themselves over the years to be masters of magic that can be broken by an action rather then a counter spell, making them effective arbitrators in instances of misconduct between people. There is as of yet no known way yet to break a charm created by a house elf, the only course of action is to do what the spell instructs.." at that point Snape stopped reading, realising that they would have to do and he did not like it one bit.

"Okay Harry, we now know what we have to do, we have to learn to trust, understand and bury our negativity towards each other. Should we start talking?" Snape asked.

"That book is so old, they must have found a way by now!" argued Harry, ignoring Snape's idea.

"Fine we will keep looking" replied Snape.

Hours later it seemed like there was nothing in Snape's entire library that was going to help them, there was just yards and yards of spells that they could try but when they did, left them disappointed with the results and even closer as every failed attempt lead to another link in the chain being removed.

"It's getting late, high time we started making our way to bed" said Snape, breaking the silence of the last few hours.

"Question though, how are we going to go to bed?" It had only just dawned on Harry that they were attached by the wrists permanently; he couldn't just slip off the bracelet and go to his separate room.

"Simple, we will just have to share a bed" came the practical words of Severus Snape

They then realised what they would have to do that night. Snape suddenly felt cold all over, it seemed like forever since he had shared the same bed with another person, being a recluse and a teacher at a boarding school did not leave a lot of time for nocturnal relations.

Where as Harry never had, sure he had friends over and was used to sharing the same room as four or five other people but he did not know what it was like to sleep with another person.

Neither knew what to say, they were both very uncomfortable with the situation.

Finally the silence was broken by Harry.

"So where are we going to sleep?" he stammered out.

"My bed is the biggest, it makes more sense for us to sleep in my room" replied Snape.

Harry gulped, this holiday had turned out to be his worst nightmare, he would rather take on Leatherface or Freddy Krueger and it would be more pleasant. He had no idea what would happen if this news got loose at school, he would be laughed out of the country.

They went to Harry's room to get his possessions that he might need that night like his toothbrush and pyjamas before heading on in silence to Snape's wing.

Once inside Snape closed the door and they averted each others eyes, not sure what they should do next.

By silent mutual agreement they decided to go clean their teeth. Standing side by side in Snape's rather large, very black bathroom they cleaned their teeth. Harry had problems cleaning his and refused Snape's silent offer of help.

Now for the part they were all dreading, getting changed for bed.

Snape cleared his throat, preparing to say something he had never thought in his whole life he would ever say.

"Do you want to undress and change first or me?" he hurriedly said.

"You, I won't look". Harry said, immediately turning around and covering his eyes.

Snape took a deep breath and started to take off his pants slowly, watching Harry to make sure he didn't peek He hurriedly put his pyjama pants on and now it was time for the hard part, the removal of the shirt.

He had to use a spell to split open the sleeve that was on the hand locked to Harry's to get it off and then reseal it, he put on the pyjama top quick as possible, he hated people looking at his chest. He sighed with relief; it wasn't so hard after all, thanking the Lord for magic.

Harry did the same thing, using a spell to get his shirt off and quickly getting his pants off in one quick and fluent motion.

Now it was time for them to go to bed.

"Which side do you prefer?" asked Snape, trying to be nice.

"That's a stupid question, like we have much choice when we are chained together", Harry said, holding his wrist up and shaking his fist in Snape's face.

Snape flushed, angry at himself for trying to do a nice gesture that just backfired in his face.

Uneasily the two jumped in bed and pulled back the covers. Harry was trying so hard to be mature and not make a fuss about it, but it was so incredibly hard, what he was doing now felt so wrong.

Snape lay back staring at the ceiling. He mused over what was happening. The funny thing was he decided was that this was the closest he would ever get to sleeping with Lily and that was sleeping with her son, but the disturbing thing was that it was also like sleeping with James, that was not a pleasant thought.

Snape had decided then he was going to make an effort to try and get to know the son of his worst enemy to break the charm, he just had to ask the right question.

"You know Harry, life hasn't been easy for me, and I know what you are going through more then anyone else does" he softly said.

"No one can understand". Harry replied, trying to roll over so as to block Snape out.

"I do, can I tell you a story Harry? It might help out us both". Snape asked.

Harry rolled back curious about what Snape was going to tell him…

A/N: Well that's the latest one, hope you enjoyed it and for all of those that would like free cyber hugs or fudge REVIEW and for a bonus try and guess what words the "spells" were from (hint: they are not English) for more cyber goodies or just for fun. Hope you enjoyed that and review. Till next time.


	16. The Heart and Soul of Snape

Just like to say a huge thanks to Hopeless Lady Dreamer (writer of an awesome story called _World Of Dreams _which is worth a read) who gave me some ideas for this chapter and as a result this chapter is dedicated to her, one of my best friends and someone I trust and love so much. To the rest of you read and enjoy this INCREDIBLY long chapter.

Snape could not believe that those words had just come out of his mouth. He did not want to make the first move, he would much rather listen to Harry's complaints then talk about his own, but he was the mature adult in this situation and it was his responsibilty to over see that action was taken.

He had never spoken about this event his entire life, it was just way to painful. He knew some people knew about the problems that he had with his father and his mother, you would have to be almost blind not to notice the bruises and the permanent depressed look in his eyes. The only thing is that no one seemed to care; teachers in his primary school never mentioned anything and the few family friends that his family had never said anything. How he hated being the outcast that everyone hated and despised.

What was worse he was being forced into telling Harry this fact of his life. The only way he could get himself separated was for Harry to be able to understand and that meant involving him in the most personal aspect of his life.

Harry looked at Snape and took a breath, he had feeling deep in his stomach that he was never going to forget tonight, he just knew that what he was about to be told was going to affect him and have him thinking about this for some time afterwards. He just hoped that he could have the same faith to tell Snape his problems, though he was sure that Snape already knew his.

"This is something I have never been able to tell someone because of how much it pains me to even think about it. The only reason I am even going to talk about this is because I have been forced into it by that bloody house elf of mine and I am going to assume that you will not mention this to anyone else as I will not talk about what ever it is that you have to say." Snape quickly breathed, struggling to find the words to use.

"I do not want any questions, this is not a show and tell event, this is a "you shut up while I talk" kind of event and I expect to you to respect that. This is my story, but let me give you some background information, there is no point putting in the effort to tell you something if you do not understand what I am going on about, though from what I know you have seen in my diaries you already know some background information". Snape said, his voice starting to become more even and comfortable with what he was saying.

_As you are aware, I did something incredibly stupid with the Polyjuice potion and ended up destroying the link to the one person that I cared about in this world, your mother and this was all due to a man I could not stand, they, being your father._

_I was angry, sad and depressed all at once and I had no one to turn to as I had no friends and the fact that James was making things even harder for me by making snide remarks and making me the laughing stock of the entire school was not making things any easier. _

_Even Lily was ignoring me, I would sometimes look around and catch her watching me but she always turned away hastily enough before I was ever able to get a good look at her face and those beautiful eyes. It was so incredibly hard to be so near to her, but still unable to have anything to do with her, it was one of the lowest points of my entire life. _

_Then something truly amazing happening, an exchange student came to the school. The new girl was something else. She was probably one of the most mystifying people that I have ever known. Her name was Amelie Delacroix. _

_By the look on your face you know that name, forget what you have connected to it, never shut down your mind to knew things Potter, it will just make it harder to open it up again._

_Amelie was a truly interesting person. She was tall and thin; she was French from the mainland and had transferred from a school over there to join us at Hogwarts. She was a vision of beauty in almost every single way, creamy flawless skin, deep blue eyes and sleek blonde hair, she resembled an angel. _

_She was allocated to Slytherin House, the entire school was in an uproar as to how a heavenly person like her managed to get into a house like Slytherin, where it was considered only the evil and repulsive ended up. But Amelie was from a long line of dark wizards, not to the extent of the Malfoy's, yes I can say that now Voldemort is no more but the Delacroix family were no less a weak family. _

_They could almost be viewed as the most evil French family to have lived and Amelie knew it, just did not flaunt it as much as some dark wizards and used her image to dismiss the thoughts of the few people in the school who knew about the Delacroix family. Because of this no one expected who Amelie was, no one believed that a person as sweet and innocent as she would come from a line of cold hearted bastards. _

_As you can see where this is going, I am going to save you a climatic build up, I fell for her. She was everything at that moment that I needed, she was smart, she did not resemble Lily in anyway apart from probably the intelligence and she understood the dark arts. She also had a use for me, I was intelligent and good at keeping secrets, she could tell me anything she wanted and knew I would not spread it around or use it against her. _

_I eventually earned her trust enough to learn something about her family. She had been sent to England to live as her father was in league with Voldemort and he was staying in the house. Her family had that in order to keep his presence there a secret it would be better not have their young daughter around, so she was sent to live with her uncle Victor and his family._

_Victor, you may have heard from Ava was more of a minion of Voldemorts' then a supporter. His brother was one of Voldemorts' right hand men where as Victor was only in it for the glory and he was expected to by his older and more domineering brother to carry on the family tradition. This made Victor no less evil, he dabbled in a bit of rape and murder because he enjoyed it and he knew it kept him in favour with Voldemort. _

_Amelie was not an evil person, she was not sadistic, she was definitely more prone to violence, she also hated James. I remember one time at Hogsmeade James tried to "hook up" with Amelie as he and the rest of the peanut heads thought that she was an ice queen. Amelie did some form of spell that I have never seen; a dark magic spell that blasted James and his clothes away. That was probably the first time I ever saw anyone get the better of him, people had a lot more respect and admiration for Amelie after that. _

_Amelie and I did not live to far away from each other so during the school holidays we used to meet up. One day I was finally able to meet her Uncle and the rest of her family, Amelie knew that I was interested in the Dark Arts, which was obvious. _

_She invited me in to her house, saying that her Uncle would like to meet me. I walked into one of those big studies; I was about seventeen years old, my last year of school. Had I known what the repercussions of this meeting would be in the future, I would never have gone in to see that man. _

_Victor greeted me, shook my hand, and invited me to sit which I did. He explained to me all about Lord Voldemort, I cannot remember his exact words but he invited me to join him, saying that an open minded young man like myself who had a talent for magic would be well received into the Death Eaters. I at first rejected the offer as graciously as possible, wondering what people at school, especially Lily would think if that information got out. However, eventually he wore me down. Somehow, possibly through Amelie, he knew all about James and my problems. He told me that joining as a Death Eater would give me revenge and power over those that had hurt and embarrassed me so much in the past. _

_I joined, thinking that while I could also destroy those I hated, I could also protect those I loved, like my mother and of course Lily. I went back to Hogwarts for my last year as an almost Death Eater. Victor I assume had told Voldemort as it was huge brownie points to sign up a new recruit but I had not been inducted, meaning I did not have the Dark Mark branded onto my arm. _

_School instantly changed; suddenly I was a friend to the Slytherins. I had gone from being the one and only half cast in the entire history of Slytherin house, besides Tom Riddle, to actually being accepted and like by my fellow Slytherins and all because I had handed over my soul to the most evil man on this planet. It was a good feeling, to be accepted, like and admired as they all saw what a powerful wizard I had the ability to become and I loved it. _

_However, I was also watched like a hawk by Professor Dumbledore, it just always seemed like he was always somewhere near me watching me. I do not know if he knew what I was know involved in or he just thought it was weird that the outcast now had friends. _

_The friendships I made while in that house were hollow and just made me a worse person. I started spying on everyone, reporting to Delacroix about what I had seen. The type of information he was after was on who was making a movement against the Dark Lord, at this point in time there were Muggle murders and that kind of thing going on, nothing as major as in the next few years but enough to unsettle people. Along with a few other youths, we reported to out masters about those who were talking tough and could be a threat to Voldemorts' coming back. _

_Amelie and I ended up dating, I could not be happy, then for the first time in what felt like a lifetime, Lily spoke to me. She asked me to break it off with Amelie, telling me that I did not know what I was involving myself in, dabbling in the affairs of the Dark Wizards and dating one of Voldemorts' trusted supporters daughters, it had somehow come out what Amelie's family was like. She also said that I was making myself a very prominent member of Slytherin house and that was not a good thing. She also apologised for being so cruel to me, blaming herself for my full turn to the dark side of magic. But I did not listen to her, I was still angry and hurt and besides I had a girlfriend that seemed to really like and care about me, I did not need Lily's pity. _

_When that school term ended and we all went back to our homes, me to the Delacroix family who had almost adopted me, my mother did not really care where I was, for she was often drunk or never at home. It was there one of the most prevalent memories of my life, for I, Severus Snape met the Lord Voldemort himself._

_Lord Voldemort then was not quite the snake like man that you have met. He was actually quite a handsome man though he was starting to develop the venomous characteristics that he would possess when you met him in your fourth year at school._

_He talked to me, telling me how pleased he was to have a young man of my skills as his ally and his friend, he said that he was prepared to overlook the slight issue of me not being a full blood to involve me, something I was thankful for, even though he himself was not a full blood. He also invited me, when my school year was finished to become one of his Death Eaters, along with my girlfriend Amelie Delacroix, a proposal both of us felt obligated to accept, neither of us wanted to push back an offer like that when it was being given by such a powerful man. _

_Amelie and I went back at the end of the holidays even more respected then we had been before. Somehow, the word that Amelie and I were thought of highly by the Lord Voldemort had escaped and every wannabe Death Eater or snivelling fool wanting to be part of the 'in' crowd of Slytherins' wanted to be our friends. Those who wanted power saw us as valuable allies and those who just wanted to survive saw us as protectors who might put in a good word if a problem aroused. _

_Together, Amelie and I stayed strong with our relationship; I was even more envied for my beautiful and powerful girlfriend. We studied together, which in the final examinations for our N.E.W.T.S proved useful as we were able to help each other out with our strengths, I with my Potions and Defence Again the Dark Arts prowess and Amelie with her talents in the areas of Transfiguration and Charms._

_We both graduated as one of the top students in our year, both pleasing and concerning many teachers who foresaw our phenomenal abilities as no more then tools to do evil in this world. _

_The graduation day was something I will remember for a long time, as it was the last time that I would ever see Lily Evans as a single woman. She looked stunning that day, several times Amelie told me to keep my eyes "off the muggle", but I couldn't help it, she looked lovely and even worse she was still with James Potter. On the parting where the entire year was saying their pleasantries, like the whole promising to keep in touch and that rubbish, Lily pulled me away from Amelie, which did not go down well with my lady later on that day. _

_She told me how she would miss me and how incredibly sorry she was that things had not worked out between us. She finished asking me if we could keep in touch and if I would ever forgive her. Then I did something that to this day I still regret. I looked her right in those beautiful green eyes of hers and firmly said "No" and then without another word, I turned around and left leaving a very upset end downcast Lily behind. _

_The induction into the realm of the Death Eater was not as spectacular as one might think. This ritual took place almost as soon as Amelie and I had arrived back from our graduation. The ritual itself was quite an interesting ordeal. _

_Amelie and I stood dressed in these dark black robes. Lord Voldemort gave us each a piece of parchment and we read it when instructed to. We then swore an oath in Latin saying "__victoria aut mors" which translated in English to "victory over death". We then cut our wrists; yes, even the Death Eaters do the old cliché bonding ritual and added a drop to a jug of blood of the other Death Eaters. One of Voldemort's supporters, Lucius Malfoy who had been a Prefect when I was in the lower years at Hogwarts then branded us with the Dark Mark and handed us the same masks that you saw when you met Voldemort in the graveyard. We were thus proclaimed Death Eaters and were now considered important members of his support group. _

_I am not going to give you any details on what I did as a Death Eater, you can probably guess as to what we did, things that I am not proud of now. Amelie and I married a few years later, about the same time your parents did I found out later on. _

_There were problems brewing in the order of the Death Eaters. Some had been found to be insincere in their promises to Voldemort and others were just traitorous. Many Death Eaters and their families had been executed due to these charges. Voldemort did not care whether it was man women or children he killed, he just killed with no remorse, if the other members of that person's family were not faithful to his cause they would be killed, one of the terrors I saw at a meeting will remain with me forever. _

_It was about two years after our induction, Amelie and I now a newly married couple, the Snapes as we were now called. We had all been summoned to the meeting hall to here an announcement from Voldemort. _

_Voldemort had started off doing the usual house keepings, telling us about how many "threats" to the cause had been removed and how many muggles had been murdered and the like. Then he got down to business. He said, "Bring out the accused", two of the other Death Eaters, the Lestranges, Bellatrix and her husband, I had been friends with Bellatrix as a student. Together they brought out the prisoners, the Death Eater Sigmund Callias and his wife Blanche as well as there two children who were only about nine and seven years of age. _

_Voldemort started to speak to the audience, telling us that the reason that these four had been brought as prisoners was that Sigmund had recently turned over to Dumbledore and for sometime, unknown to Sigmund his wife Blanche had been sneaking things to Dumbledore. Coldly and callously, he said the words that have been burnt into my brains, just as the looks of fear that were etched on the children's faces. Voldemort said, _Snape's voice starting to catch, "_on the charges of treason against Lord Voldemort and the cause for Purebloods you have been found guilty and sentenced to death" and without even another word, he pointed his wand at them and killed them with the words 'Avarda Kedavra'. The two adults and their young children fell to the floor dead, the look of horror and fear firmly etched onto their dead faces. _

_Voldemort looked at them for barely a second before turning back to the rest of the congregation. He cleared his throat and told us to consider the demise of these people as being an example for the rest of us as to what would happen if any of us defied him, I felt Amelie squeeze my hand, she was scared. _

_Amelie unknown to me had started to feel uneasy about what she had involved herself in and she wanted out. Unknown to me she was also passing information discretely out, the way she squeezed my hand should have been a clue as to what was going on with her, but I was to worried about my duties to understand what was going through her head. _

_Victor, as I am sure Ava told you was only in league with Voldemort because of the perks, like the women. Victor was slack and lazy in his duties and an unknown fact was that he was secretly sleeping with his house elf Leia, who happens to be the grandmother of Ava. _

_Victor eventually crossed the line, he was found inadvertently giving away secrets to one women who was in league with Dumbledore, a veela and an incredibly beautiful woman. For his stupidity Victor was executed, his house destroyed as well as his entire family, including Leia. The only members to escape were Ava's mother, the product of the union between Victor and Leia and the adult daughter of the Delacroix's. _

_The daughter, Ophelia went to Amelie for help; the only person that she felt would not turn her in. Her Uncle, Amelie's father had already expressed that Ophelia, should she be found was to be handed over and killed. Amelie suggested that she turn to Dumbledore for help without even talking to me, I was not even aware that she had even come to our house. Ophelia was told by Dumbledore that the best course of action was to go stay with Amelie and I in our house, this one we are in right now. _

_I was furious; Amelie had no idea how much danger she had put us in now, she had never told me about the Dumbledore conversation, she knew I would figure out what was going on with Amelie if she did. Amelie, the sneaky snake that she can be knew that I would never hand in Ophelia as that would mean death to Amelie for helping her and we had just discovered then that she was pregnant as well. _

_Ophelia stayed in our house, even with the constant onslaught of Death Eaters and Voldemort, it was the only place that she felt safe, besides, Voldemort had the utmost faith in my character, it was only through his trust in me and her father that Amelie was allowed to live after the actions of her uncle. _

_The war was going well for our side then, everything was going well in my house, Amelie was doing well in her pregnancy and Ophelia seemed happy living the way she was in hiding. The only problem being was that Ophelia, her fiancé, the only other man that she had thought she could trust left her, refusing to stay longer after the meetings at our house to see her. The broken heart made Ophelia kill herself, her death took the utmost toll on Amelie, and it was a dark day in our lives. _

_Amelie started to make more movements in the anti-Voldemort movement, she was becoming more of a nuisance to Voldemort as she had access to a lot of valuable information, I still have no idea what she told to the other side, it was never considered something I needed to know. Amelie was caught giving information to an operative that was actually working for us but was pretending to be in league with Dumbledore, he told Voldemort and suddenly, unknown to Amelie and I, we were in a lot of trouble._

_I was coming home from a stakeout early in the morning; Amelie who was far advanced in her pregnancy had been left at home until she was to give birth. As I was walking in the door I saw a flash of green light, I ran into the sitting room where I saw a man in a black robe bending over something. I ran in with my wand drawn as he turned around, to reveal the face of Voldemort, as I approached closer I realised the object on the floor was the body of Amelie, pregnant but dead lying on the floor. _

_I stood there and stared, I was shocked and I could not work out why. Voldemort looked at me, with that evil smile he started to chuckle. _

"_Dear Severus", he said, "it seems almost ironic that when you have been looking so hard to find the one that had been betraying us that the one you love the most also happened to be the one hurting us the most". _

"_You must have made a mistake, there is no way that she would be involved in something like that, you monster!" I finished the sentence screaming and started rushing towards him, ready to kill him out of revenge for my poor wife. _

_He lazily put out his hand; he was so powerful back then and stopped me dead in my tracks, I was unable to move, held back by a magical force. _

"_You have been a faithful servant to me Severus, I considered having you killed first as a punishment for her but now I have realised what a useful servant you have been for me. For that I am now prepared to overlook your relationship with the traitor on the provision that you remain as such loyal to me and do my bidding, you will not speak of your wives demise at my hands, she will simply have died by the hands of an auror, an honourable death, it will save your face. I expect you to live by that and not mention this to anyone else." Voldemort finished off, he then dissaparated, leaving me in my misery looking at my dead pregnant wife lying on the ground. _

_I did not know what to do, within a few seconds I had lost everything that mattered to me. I had lost the women that I had loved, the child that I was looking forward to having. Everything just seemed hopeless, but I could not cry and get angry or do anything to show what misery I was going through. The only thing I could do was go around stony faced as nothing made me happy and nothing made me unhappy, I could not change my emotional state, it was like I was devoid of all emotions possible. _

_I spent a few weeks consoled by 'friends', Lucius and Bellatrix amongst them. It was not until Voldemort killed a few more members of the society along with their family I realised how wrong a decision it was to become part of this group. Around me friends were being killed, only the most evil were staying alive, all of those who had joined thinking it would be something "cool", the young people and those who had come out of fear or just as a way to rebel were dying in the hundreds. _

_I then decided that I owed it to Amelie to avenge her death and that of our unborn child. I decided that it was time I sought out Dumbledore, I knew that I could very well end up in the same position as Amelie, but I also felt that I owed a debt for all the evil things that I did as a servant to the Dark Lord and I was now willing to serve the other side. _

_I went to a café that Amelie went to a lot. I had thought that it must be the place that she had gone to meet Dumbledore for she always made sure I was not able to accompany her, the one time I tried she was almost hysterical, saying how she could never do anything without my constant watch. _

_I walked in there, it was late afternoon, I was dressed all in black, the Dark Mark well covered on my forearm. I sat there, ordered a coffee and waited. He did not appear and I left at closing time, about nine o'clock. I sat there night after night waiting for the old fool to come but still there was no one. The bar people just watched me. They must have been curious, a young man coming in, ordering a coffee and waiting there alone, ignoring every single pretty woman that came my way, I even paid no attention to the beauty that spent a lot of time bending over the pool tables exposing her long slender legs. _

_After a week of constant waiting, I finally gave up. I did not know where else to go and I was starting to have second thoughts about changing sides. Amelie would not want her life revenged if it was to put mine in danger, she would much rather me alive. _

_I walked out at around six o'clock, telling the waiter that cleared my mug that the friend I was waiting for was no longer coming to the café. I walked away in the cold winter breeze towards the corner where there was a seat. I just wanted to sit there away from the chatter of the café and think. _

_I sat there with my head in my hands, looking at my feet when a strange old man dressed in a long cloak that covered him from head to foot came and sat down next to me. He started to talk to me, something about how nice the night was, I ignored him but he kept on talking. Eventually after what felt like hours of this man's constant babbling about random things I finally lost it, I turned around and started to yell at him._

"_You stupid old fool would just shut your goddamn mouth for just a second, some of us are trying to think and make a life changing decision and it would be a great help if you would stop that incessant noise you senile old fool"._

_The man looked at me, bright blue eyes shining from under the hood, the only thing visible on his face, amused at my sudden outburst._

"_Why it is nice to meet you again Severus, but Amelie was right, you are a bit of a grump". The stranger said chuckling. _

_I froze, the man knew my name, it had to be another Death Eater, there was no other way they would know so much about me. I slowly reached into my pocket to grab wand, my fingers closed around it and as quick as a flash I pulled it out and pointed at the strange old man. I considered blasting him away at the moment but I needed to know who he was and who was giving him the information. I said calmly and quietly "who are you and why do you know about me, who do you work for". _

_Smiling, amused he looked at my outstretched arm and serious facial expression._

"_Why Severus, you have not changed a bit, to think that you are still the same paranoid boy as you were at school, I would have thought that you would have gained some confidence"._

_I stared at him, harder this time, he knew about my childhood and my time at school. _

"_My mistake my dear boy, though you are not exactly a boy anymore. Maybe this will help". _

_At the conclusion of that sentence, he pulled back his cloak, revealing his face. I gasped at my ignorance, what a great Death Eater I am, I could not even tell that the annoying fool talking to me was none other then Albus Dumbledore, the Headmaster when I was at Hogwarts and the man that I had spent the last week waiting to show up. _

"_Yes, I am sorry for the deception Severus. I had to make sure that you were serious about joining us before I brought you into the group, the last thing I need is another spy in the organisation. Amelie said that she wanted you to be part of it a long time ago, but I felt that you would be a danger, Amelie's death may have a good outcome, we do need a trusted ally of Voldemort's to act as a spy and you would be perfect. Amelie would be so proud."_

"_You are probably wondering how Amelie came to us. She has always been uncomfortable with her family's dealings, not enough to rebel but enough to question the values that she was having put into her head. She came to the school under the cover of darkness to talk to me. After hearing what she had to say I was worried for her and your safety. I invited her to join the order and to make sure that you were kept safe, meaning that no one was allowed to kill you when Death Eaters and members of the Order came into conflict. You just thought that you were good at duelling did you not? Amelie would never want you hurt, in fact she begged me to let her bring you in, but I could see that you would have divided loyalties". He finished his sentence and looked at me, no expression on his face._

"_You mean that you have been here the whole time watching me for the last week sit their on my own?" I said, almost yelling._

_He nodded and smiled. "But it was worth it, I now know how serious you are to our cause of having a Voldemort free world. I am not going to ask you to put yourself in danger for the Order, or prove your worth, but what I would like from you is a promise that once you join us that no matter what you do you will never go back to the Death Eaters". _

"_Yes, I promise, because of the Death Eaters I am now without the woman I love, or the child that was to become ours". I said, a trace of anger still lingering in my voice. _

"_Lily is still alive Severus, alive and well". Dumbledore said, the knowing face of a wise man looking at me. _

_I looked down at my hands; I did not want to think about Lily, it was too painful and I was emotionally cheating on my only recently deceased wife. _

"_The next meeting is at my house, be there in two days time at around eight o'clock, bring a plate of food, the others tend to like to eat". With a smile, he handed me piece of parchment with his address on it and left, leaving me sitting there still on my own watching him shrink into the darkness. _

_Snape went home and sat by himself thinking about what was going to happen. I could not help but feel guilty, I had only just lost my wife and I was already thinking about Lily, I was excited that I would finally be getting the chance to see her in a couple of years. _

_I cooked just as Dumbledore had suggested, I had made some form of caramel slice, I was hoping it would be semi-edible. I went into the bathroom and started to groom myself for the first time since the day of Amelie's death. I think I just wanted to look good for Lily, show her that without her I was still able to go on. _

_I took a shower and washed my hair. Yes Potter, I do actually wash my hair I just have naturally oily roots. I had a shave, it felt good to see skin without hair for once and I dressed in something that looked respectable. _

_Finishing my preparation for my presentation I apparated to the address that Dumbledore had given me. I arrived outside a rather odd-looking house. The house was shaped in a perfect round cylinder shape, the garden was wild and unruly, it looked like his house elf, if he had one did not know how to garden. I found a note on the fence but it was blank apart from one sentence that read, "Say your name". Raising an eyebrow I warily did so; one cannot be sure, when it comes to Albus Dumbledore. _

_On the words of "Severus Snape", suddenly the gates opened and I found myself involuntarily walking into the grounds with the gates swiftly shutting behind me. I walked up the winding path towards the front door. I knocked on the door, it opened on its own and I walked in. I walked towards the loud racket that was going on a few rooms away, I walked in on about twenty people sitting around a table, laughing and joking while eating. There were people I recognised, Peter Pettigrew, James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, the Bones's, the Longbottom's and of course Lily. _

_As soon as I walked into the room, it went deathly quiet. Everyone looked at me with a mixture of distrust and vehement hate, only Lily and Dumbledore seemed vaguely happy I was there and Lily just because she did not completely hate me. ._

"_Everyone, I would like you all to meet Severus Snape, he is the husband of Amelie Delacroix-Snape and is with us as he has realised the errors of his ways and wants to make penance for his crimes as well as revenge the death of Amelie. I ask you all to make Severus welcome as he is going to be a very valuable person with his knowledge of Voldemort's plans and that he is one of Voldemort's most trusted henchmen. Severus please take a seat and we would all love that caramel slice". Dumbledore said with a smile. _

_I looked around for a place to sit. After a few uncomfortable seconds, your mother finally seemed to "bite the bullet" as they say and gestured towards a seat next to her. Gratefully I took a seat next to her and I gasped at what I found. She was still as attractive as she had been when we had graduated but she was a more mature beauty and much to my shock, she was also heavily pregnant, about the same stage that Amelie was in. _

_I did not get a chance to talk to her as Dumbledore immediately started the meeting talking about various Order business, asking for my input and knowledge on some matters. _

_After the meeting as I was getting up to leave your father looked around to me and for once he looked at me like I was a human being. _

"_Sorry to here about your wife Sev". James said quickly. He and the others stayed around a few minutes, more out of politeness then anything else I think. It was awkward, Lily not saying a great deal, eventually James and her moved out, followed by the other Marauders. _

_I walked home, ready to fulfil my mission as a new Order of the Phoenix member. My mission was to monitor Voldemort and all his movements and report them back to the Order as well as try to stop anything to terrible going ahead and I can proudly say I did my bit as a spy to stop a lot of tragedies, but there was one that I could not stop._

_Talking to Voldemort at a meeting about two years after I had been admitted into the Order, he was talking about some prophecy; it was not until I heard your name and your parents that I looked up. I could not believe it; you were to be killed because of some idiotic prophecy. I told Voldemort it would be in his best interests not to go for the prophecy, that it was a load of shit and that if he was to beat the prophecy it would look even better for him. _

_He accepted that but I told Dumbledore just in case. It was not until I looked at the daily Prophet weeks later that my whole world came to a stop once again. The headline read in huge bold print "Voldemort Dead, Wizarding World Celebrating". Reading the article was the most painful thing I have ever had to do. I went from feeling elated that Voldemort was dead to absolutely crushed when I read how he had died, that he had been killed when he had his curse rebounded on him when he tried to kill you, but unfortunately his parents had been killed in the process. That was the second time my heart died. I sometimes wish that he had survived that night and had come back to kill me, as according to Bellatrix had been his plan after killing the Potters. It would have made things easier. _

Ever since then I have had to hide the real reason of why the miserable thing I called my life is the way it is, as it is to embarrassing and painful to talk about. I never want to have another relationship with a woman again as everyone I have ever had has always ended in agony, which is why I resent the constant gay remarks from you Potter.

Harry sat there stunned, letting what he had just heard sink in. He could not believe that one person could have so much misery in their life and still be able to function. He had really misunderstood Snape. He would never look at him the same way again.

"Professor, I…." Harry started.

"I do not want to here what you have to say Potter; I never want to mention this again". Snape said, cutting him off.

"I'm sorry Snape, for all that I have said and done, I never meant to upset you, if I had known then I never would have said anything as horrible was what I did". Harry said, ignoring Snape.

Snape nodded curtly, not sure what to say, he was not used to be apologised to.

"Thank you Harry, now let us go to sleep, I am exhausted as I am sure you are". Snape said, sending the message that he no longer wished to discuss the matter.

He swiftly rolled over with his back to Harry and turned off the light, leaving Harry still sitting in the bed to ponder what he had just heard.

Snape stared off into the darkness. Thinking about Amelie and Lily hurt so much, he preferred his dreams, where they were alive and happy and all is. He was even more worried as to what Harry would do with this new information, he hoped he would never talk about it to anyone, but he was sure that he would tell Ron and Hermione, teenagers rarely keep secrets.

Harry eventually lay down in bed. He was trying not to think about what pain Snape had gone through. It hurt him deeply that he had never had the chance to know his parents, he could only imagine the pain that Snape was going through, knowing his mother for so long and caring for her, only to have her taken away first by his father and then for good by the most evil man, Lord Voldemort. It was true, love did hurt.

A/N: So are you all proud of me? That was almost like writing an epic story the amount of time it has taken to write it. Now I am sure that I deserve at least ten reviews. (At least means that ten reviews is at the minimum and more reviews are treasured even more), please I know heaps of people read and don't review and it really is great to see reviews coming in as it means people actually care! So yeah review and if you have any questions about anything I always answer any messages/ questions in reviews as anyone who has ever asked knows, so please review and keep me happy! Until next time, Taryn.


	17. Inside Harry

Sorry this has taken so long to be posted I have had exams and my placement for a nursing course that I am doing and haven't had time to write or even read fanfic so that is my excuse, but never fear I am now on holidays so I will be updating as much as I can, as I am planning to get this finished by the time school goes back next year. This is not a very long chapter this is basically to show that I have not just fallen off the face off the earth, the next one I promise will be better (I hope anyway). ENJOY!

The Other Side of Snape

Harry tossed and turned in bed, he could not sleep. Snape's harrowing tale turned over and over through his mind. He could hear Snape's voice in his head, the low tenor mono-toned matter of fact voice slowly telling a story that caused him so much pain. What made Harry so confused was that the whole way through, little to no emotion played out in his voice, it was almost like he had been telling a story of a friend that he did not know very well, rather then telling a story about one of the most important and defining moments of his life.

He was also overcome by a feeling of guilt; he had teased Snape and made his life miserable just like the others. He rolled over, so as he didn't have to look at Snape's back, the motionless figure made him feel guilty. He had made it so far over when he realised that his shoulder was not moving the right way. He remembered suddenly that he was handcuffed to Snape.

"Great", he thought to himself, he was going to have to sleep like this and probably get a horrible nights' sleep because he was unable to dislocate his shoulder and move it around or get the stupid handcuffs off. As much as he liked Ava and found her amusing, there were times when he could honestly kill her, maybe he could convince Snape to work together to strangle her with their handcuffs, they would remove Ava and break the handcuffs as they could show that they could work together, kill two birds with one stone.

It took him ages to get to sleep and when he did, he realised that he was haunted by what he had been told by Snape. Snape's story evoked painful dreams inside him, memories that he had forgotten were even in his head. Small flashbacks appeared in his mind's eye, he remembered the first time he had been hit by Uncle Vernon, a memory he had thought was long gone, the sense of loss when he realised that Dudley had taken his favourite toy and had claimed it as his own. Even thought the loss of a toy was nothing compared to the loss of someone you love it lead to an even more powerful memory of Harry's, the loss of the first person that actually cared for him in his conscious memory.

Her name was Miss Wilson, Miss Delilah Wilson and she was probably one of the most wonderful and sweetest people in Harry's memory. She had been his second grade teacher and the first person that showed any honest kindness and generosity towards Harry, preferring him to his cousin Dudley who was always in the same class as Harry, very bad planning on behalf of the administration staff at his school.

This had been unusual for Harry. He was used to be ignored by every single person that came into contact with him. Adults loved Dudley and children his own age were to afraid of Dudley to risk being nice to Harry. He had spent his whole life up to the start of his second year at school ignored and hated.

Miss Wilson had been different to everyone else that Harry had known. She was sweet and gentle and did not like Dudley at all. She almost seemed to favour Harry a bit, she realised what Harry's life was like and through a conversation that Harry had with her further into the year he learnt that she had been orphaned as a young girl and had lived with her mother's sister's family and had been overshadowed by her talented cousin who had been perfect, beautiful, good at art, music, sport and was incredibly intelligent, as a result Miss Wilson largely ignored as the limelight was always on her cousin who outshined her at everything.

Harry had a relationship with her that was unlike one that he had with anyone else, she actually cared about him and that amazed him. He remembered her getting other children to play with him and include him in games and letting him do things first, a privilege that was usually reserved by the other teachers for Dudley.

The shock of his life came when she announced half way through the school year that she was leaving as she was engaged and was due to be married in a few months time. Harry had felt like his world had fallen down around him the one person in this world that he felt gave a damn about his welfare was to be taken from his life forever and it hurt so much.

While he could not feel the same loss that Snape had suffered when his wife had died, he imagined that the feeling that he had was similar to that of Snape's and he understood the agony that Snape had gone through losing the two women that he loved the most, taken from his so soon in his young life.

He rolled over again; he didn't want to feel that feeling again. Maybe that was why he had always had problems making friends, he was scared that they would be taken away from him, as would happen in school when his "friends" realised that it wasn't cool to be friends with Dudley's cousin, he lost so many friends that way. He still couldn't completely enter into a relationship with anyone, whether it was Cho Chang or Ginny Weasley, that same fear was in his stomach and he still prepared himself every day for, the pain that the loss of their friendship would cause him.

He lay there in bed thinking, mulling over what his relationship with Dudley had cost him, he realised that he blamed Dudley for his misfortune when it came to his life and it was on that thought that he went to sleep, to be haunted by another nightmare.

_He woke up in his bedroom at Hogwarts to witness an empty room. The beds were made perfectly, like they had not been slept in for quite some time. The room was devoid of any personal belongings apart from his own. He rose out of bed and walked down stairs, realising that the castle was deathly quiet. _

_He looked around searching, calling out names, "Ron, Hermione, Ginny, ANYBODY!" But no one answered. Furiously he rushed around, looking into every classroom, every dormitory he could find. Everything was the same, perfectly neat and clean, like no one had been there in quite some time._

_He rushed into the dungeons, hoping it was just some cruel joke that was being played on him. With a sigh of relief he saw a dark, cloaked figure, which as he ran closer to, he realised was Snape. He yelled out his name, rushing towards him, for the first time in his life he was happy to see Snape._

_Snape turned around, his eyes were wet and his cheeks were tear stained and he was leaning over a book filled with photographs filled with people that Harry knew and some that he did not. _

"_They all leave us in time, it is just a matter of time, people like us were not meant to be in this world, we are too different, all that there is for us is to leave the world, just as those that we care about have left us". Snape sombrely said. _

_Harry tried to say something, but nothing would come out. Then he realised the space between him and Snape was becoming larger and he felt himself being torn away from the room, like he was changing dimensions or had suddenly been cast into something like the "X Files", that was the type of image that was in front of him._

He woke up with his mouth open in a silent scream, shaking and sweating profusely. He sat up and tried to think, he must have disturbed Snape as Snape rolled over towards him.

"What are you doing Potter?" Snape said grumpily, clearly not a morning person.

"I had a bad dream", Harry replied.

Snape sighed and opened his eyes to look at Harry; he paused, thinking about what to say to the shaking boy lying next to him.

"Did you want to talk about it?" Snape questioned, trying to put on his most caring voice, but failing dismally.

"Like you really care! No one does and it pisses me off when people pretend to, just like you are, roll over, go back to sleep and leave me alone, I don't want to talk about anything, especially to you." With that explosion, Harry rolled over and went back to sleep.

Snape was a little taken back by this small explosion. He had thought that he made some headway with Harry, made it to the same level as him and was starting to learn to almost like the sullen teenager, obviously he was wrong.

"Do you have any idea how much I hate my life? I can't do anything right, everyone expects so much from me and it drives me insane. I defeated Voldemort and yet I still have you on my back telling me that I was never going to become anyone important in this world because I could not concoct a couple of stupid potions!". Harry said angrily.

"Everyone avoids me and no one wants anything to with me, all that they think I am is some kind of freak that was not even worthy enough to be killed by Voldemort. I feel like I am in a zoo or something, just a freak show where everyone comes to watch and point at but leaves without ever thinking about me again."

"Do you have any idea how hard it is to try and get a girlfriend as well? Actually you probably do because you were just a greasy git the whole way through your school life. Cho Chang avoids me, says that she can't take being near me because of Cedric, says I cause her too much pain because of his death and that I remind her of him. The few times we have been together alone all that we have achieved is how afraid she is of being hurt again by losing someone close to her, hence why she would not enter into a relationship with me, just because good old Voldy is a homicidal arsehole bent on revenge on a boy who destroyed his manhood and crushed his ego! Talk about carrying a grudge and they say that women are spiteful."

"Then you come to Ginny. She is an awesome girl, really nice and pretty but Ron would kill me, at least she understands me and likes me for who I am and not who she thinks I should be. But Ron does what ever he can to make sure that we are never alone. Does he honestly think that I am just going to attack his sister right then and there or something? Besides it isn't like she is a good girl anyway, if Ron knew half of it he would probably have a coronary embolism, convulse and die dramatically like something out of a bad Shakespeare tragedy. Don't get me wrong, Ron is my best mate, but it is really hard to talk to him about the girl of your dreams when it happens to be the sister of his they he is incredibly over protective of".

"I would just like to be a normal kid, go home after school to a mum and a dad who care about me, get nice home cooked meals and not have to coexist with Vernon. Have a couple of brothers and sisters that I could whinge about with Ron, instead of longing for the busy house that he has. Be able to walk down the streets without people pointing and going, 'did you just see him? Is that THE Harry Potter?' Have a conversation with an adult that did not end up in 'you are such a brave boy, if your parents were alive they would be so proud of you', have grandparents that I actually knew and be spoilt rotten at Christmas time and at birthdays by them.

"You know what the only thing I want in this entire world is? To be normal. I don't want jewels or superpowers like other kids, all I want is a family that love me, a home that I can call my own and friends that are always there and the opportunity to have never had to have faced death so many times, I just want to wipe the slate clean, go back in time and just be a normal every day guy that when people heard the name 'Harry Potter' they didn't start getting all nervous and worked up like I am some super star. That's all I want, is that to much to ask?" Harry finished his rant, drawing in a deep breath and relaxing slightly.

Snape sat there quietly for a few moments, trying to take in what he had just heard. He couldn't believe that Harry felt that way. All that he had ever wanted in his life was to be noticed, he would have given his wand arm to have the respect and acknowledgement that was an everyday part of Harry's life. He thought that the saying was true; the grass always looks greener on the other side.

"We can not change what had already happened and as of yet, we still can not alter the future Harry". Snape said carefully, not wanting to upset the already fragile boy.

"I know that, but it has always been my wish. Whenever I can't sleep at night or whenever I get the chance, I often fantasize what it would be like to be normal. In my fantasy I can have what ever I want. My parents are alive, I am popular at school and I can date who ever I want, I am the smartest person in school and life is perfect. I sometimes think that these are dreams are what keep me sane, in my dreams I can be who ever I want, someone who is not mentally screwed up and is a well adjusted person in society." Harry said.

"You should realise that there are people out there who would like to have what you have. Millions of people dream about the stardom that you were born into, millions strive for it and so few get to the position that you are. Maybe you should try accepting what you have and using that accessory to your advantage." Snape said, deciding that he was not very good at this whole comfort thing, it was true, he had been born without the part of his brain that enabled him to be a decent human being.

"Well any time they want to change places they are more then welcome to take my place. It's a shame they couldn't have come forward sooner. They could learn what it is like to have Death Eaters chasing you and having to watch every single person that you think are your friends just in case they are pretending to be. No problem, bring them all out, I would pay to change lives with someone else in a second." Replied Harry, starting to get difficult.

"You know what your problem is Harry? You are so self centred, you think that because you are 'the famous Harry Potter' that we should all sympathise for having such a 'difficult' life and that no one could ever possibly understand what you are going through. Well Harry, it is time for you to wake up, there are heaps of people out there who are worse off then you. There are millions of orphans in places like Africa who have no parents, no food, no shelter, no love and no future; at least you have four out of the five. You may have no parents but you are well fed and have a home with friends who care about you and there is a bright future out there for you, compared to some, you have nothing to whinge about so for once in your life do as you are told and accept what someone tells you." Snape said angrily

Snape rolled over and went back to sleep, he did feel bad for what he had said, maybe he had been out of line but someone had to tell Harry. He understood that he had his problems, but he also knew that what Harry was complaining about could not be changed or fixed so he might as well move on and deal with the real problem, his Uncle. He decided that he would tackle the problem of Harry's Uncle tomorrow, he was too tired and he felt that Harry had enough on his plate to think about, much more and the teenagers head may explode.

Harry lay there next to Snape quietly, thinking about what Snape had said. He desperately wanted to argue with it, say that Snape was wrong, but he couldn't, after all, how can you argue with the truth?

A/N: Well my audience what did you think about that? Remember reviews are always welcome and the more that review the more motivated I am to write the next chapter so please review and make this poor, exhausted student just a little bit happy before she goes back to the gruelling task of working in the salt mines. So **REVIEW. **


	18. The Morning After

Thanks so much for the response to the last chapter, really took me by surprise. Thanks to all of you that took the time to answer, it means so much to me, really. Well anyway enjoy this next chapter and keep on reviewing! (Oh and for anyone annoyed with my run-on lines, I think there may be a couple of you. I am honestly sorry, but in Australia we have no education system where I live and no one, not even my English teacher knows what that is, so yeah, sorry but they are here to stay).

The Morning After

Snape woke up that morning and rolled over. He thought about what had happened last night, must have been a really weird dream that he had had. He swung his legs around and jumped out of the bed.

Suddenly he fell back, pulled back by a weight on his wrist and landed on top of the sleeping boy next to him in a position that would have made the Pope have a coronary embolism. Snape felt like he had knocked himself out and then all of a sudden it clicked where he was and he jumped up and away from the sleeping boy. He sat next to Harry quivering in silence, realizing how close he had come to a very awkward and potentially dangerous position had Harry woken up. He decided to sit their and just wait for him to wake up.

He lay there for what felt like hours; Harry could definitely sleep, just like any other lazy adolescent boy. It gave Snape a chance to think about what had happened the night before. Had he really said those things last night? Did he really tell Harry all those things? About Amelie? About everything? Did he really listen to Harry breakdown about his life and then turn on him and say those terrible things? This was why he was never allowed any contact with depression cases because he had a habit of just making it worse. No wonder everyone had hated him at school, he had an uncanny knack of being able to make people miserable and feel even worse about themselves. It was a shame that there was not a "morning after pill" for these kinds of situations, if there was, the guys who invented it would be absolutely rolling in the galleons.

Finally Snape had had enough. He rolled over and started to poke Harry, he wanted to get up and go down for breakfast, and he could already start to smell the aroma of pancakes and bacon being whipped up by his trusty house elf. Harry still wasn't moving very much. He had kind of groaned but there was no movement. Snape sighed, it was like being in the presence of a dead body, the Pharaoh's of Ancient Egypt who died thousands of years ago who had decomposed a long time ago had more life then this teenage boy. Finally fed up with the complete lack of movement on behalf of Harry he reached over for his wand. He pointed it at the sleeping boy and without a word he "zapped" Harry. Harry went from resembling the living dead, like a scene out of the movie _Resident Evil _or _Dracula _to looking like an alert solider out of _MASH _or _Hogan's Heroes. _

"What the hell was that for?" Harry said breathlessly, clearly scared of being awakened in that manner.

"Consider it your wakeup call Potter, there is only so long that I will wait for a teenager to rise before I get impatient. Now stop hyperventilating and get dressed so that we can go down for the breakfast that Ava is making for us." Came the calm, yet biting reply of Snape.

The two of them walked down to breakfast easier then they had gone away from dinner the night before, they were starting to get the hang of this whole stuck together arrangement.

Ava waited patiently in the room slightly nervous. She was not sure who would be turning up at the breakfast table. She imagined something like Snape attached to an arm of Harry or something like that. She should have held bets in the wizarding community as to how long the two of then would last, how she would have loved to have seen what happened in the bed last night between the two of them, probably lots of arguing and hexing, she better get the medical kit out and be prepared to do some serious repairs and surgery on the pair.

She heard voices coming down the hall and braced herself for impact. What she saw surprised her even more then if Snape and Harry had walked in with their limbs reattached in different positions and coloured fluorescent yellow with purple spots. They were actually getting along. Both of them looked like they were well rested and fairly happy, either that or they had hexed each other past the point of normal senescence and were suffering from dementia or one was under the power of the _Imperius Curse. _She was not to sure what the case was.

Snape and Harry worked together to move out the chairs so that each of them could sit down easily, one following the other to get into the right position at the table. Ava watched in amazement, at the rate they were going the handcuffs would be gone in hours; the colour of the cuffs was already starting to fade.

"Good Morning Ava", Snape and Harry said in almost perfect unison.

"Good morning master and Harry, how did last night go for you both?" Ava asked, interested as to what both of them would have to say about the night.

Snape and Harry paused, unsure of what to say. On one hand they wanted to prove to Ava that they could get along and were more then ready to be separated, but on the other hand, both were way to stubborn and annoyed to admit to her that she had won this battle and was succeeding in her mission, both were two stereotypical males who refused to believe that a simple female house elf could ever beat two powerful wizards at their own game.

"Yeah, it was alright, nothing really happened" Harry said, while looking at Snape carefully.

Ava turned to look at Snape in the eye, she was even more curious as to what his reaction would be, if the stubborn man could give in.

"Harry is correct, nothing much happened, we have barely spoken, while we are getting along and working together Ava, your plan has failed". Snape said with a sly smile on his lips, he loved testing Ava's nerves.

Ava tried not to react, she simply nodded and went back to eating her breakfast. Inside thought she was rather mad though. After all that she had done and they still were not talking, what had she done wrong? Unless they had simply decided work together to hide from her that anything had happened in that room, in which case that was showing an even more higher mode of team work and trust between the pair, either way Ava was sure that despite the fact that they did not know they had lost this battle and possibly this war. She smiled contently to herself, she would have good news to report to Dumbledore when he next inquired about the two's progress.

"So what are we planning on doing for Christmas?" Ava asked, breaking the silence at the table.

Both Harry and Snape looked up in almost perfect unison, as if their brains somehow shared the same neurological pathway as their faces also showed the same expression.

"What do you mean Christmas?" Harry asked.

"You must know what Christmas is, it's the time when families get together and celebrate by giving out presents and eating lots of really nice food…" Ava started to say.

"..I know what Christmas is! I just didn't think that I would be spending it here with you and Snape, that's all." Harry said, interrupting Ava's explanation.

"Well of course you are spending here! Where else did you think you would be? At the Dursley's maybe?" Ava said, almost laughing.

"No just thought I would be able to go to _The Burrow _and spend it with the Weasley's and Hermione like I used to".

"Well unfortunately you are unable to do that this time round Harry, Dumbledore specifically said that you are to remain with us for the entire holidays before you go back to school. But of course you are more then welcome to owl across their presents and letters, there is no way we will stop you from doing that." Ava replied, trying to be gentle.

"WHAT! You have got to be bloody joking; there is no way I want to spend the one time in my life that I am supposed to enjoy with you guys! I mean no offence, but out of the choice of you and Snape as opposed to my friends, I will choose Ron and Hermione any day. Can't you just let me go for just a couple of hours or something? I won't stay long, just enough time to chat to friends, have lunch and exchange presents. Please I am BEGGING you!" Harry said, starting to panic at the thought of being away from his friends for the one time he actually looked forward to every year.

"I am really sorry Harry, but that is something that cannot just be done". Ava said, starting to feel bad.

Harry sat there in silence looking at his hands. The one thing that had kept him sane and looking forward to the next day had suddenly been torn out from underneath him. The feeling was horrible, like part of his heart had been torn out of him.

The three continued there meal in uneasy silence. Both Snape and Ava were incredibly surprised with how well Harry was taking the news. Both had been expecting an explosion that made the one at Nagasaki look like nothing more then a fart in the bath. Then came the eruption.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU ARE BEING SO HORRIBLE! WHAT HAVE I EVER DONE TO YOU GUYS? ALL I WANT IS TO BE ABLE TO MAKE THE MOST OUT OF THIS MISERABLE HOLIDAY AND ENJOY PART OF IT! IS THERE A REASON I AM BEING PUNISHED FOR SOMETHING I HAVEN'T EVEN DONE OR IS THIS JUST SOME WEIRD REALITY SHOW WHERE THE WHOLE POINT IS TO MAKE MY LIFE UNBEARABLE, WHAT EVER IT IS I WANT OUT RIGHT NOW!" Screamed Harry, it seemed like he had completely lost his mind.

Snape looked at the angry boy with one eye brow raised calmly in his usual analytical way.

"What did you say Potter? I didn't quite catch that; you will have to speak up if you want us to take notice of you". A sarcastic Snape quipped. "You are not here as some silly reality show victim, or here to be punished. You are here as Dumbledore as the idea that you and I need to settle our differences as adults and cease this childish squabbling that we have engaged in over the last five years. Now stop your whining, you have been told no and that is final".

Harry opened his mouth as if to say something in retaliation against the older man but closed it again, realising that nothing he could say was going to help, from what he could work out, maybe it was not Snape's decision at all.

"Anyway, as I was saying, since Christmas is not far away, just over a week, I think it is time we started getting things sorted, like putting up the Christmas tree and decorations and that kind of thing. I will get started on other things, I am sure you two can handle dealing with a tree can't you". Ava asked.

Snape just simply nodded, preferring to silently drink his tea and deal with the pending problem later.

After breakfast Snape and Harry were walking down to the shed behind Snape's house in silence to collect the Christmas tree and decorations for the house.

"Look, I'm sorry Snape, I didn't mean to lose control like I did, I was just so annoyed that I can't go and see my friends, it was completely out of line and I hope that both you and Ava can forgive me. Spending Christmas could be fun with you guys anyway". Harry said, uneasily breaking the silence.

Snape turned to look at him, surprised at this impulsive apology. Harry was starting to grow up, be more like the man he was becoming then the boy he used to be.

"Your apology is accepted Potter. I do however understand that you were looking forward to spending time with your friends and that is what has been keeping you sane this holiday, but there is nothing we can do about it. Trust me, if it was up to me, I would let you without a word of complaint let you go to Ron's house, but as it is not, you are stuck with me till it time to go back to school next term". Snape said, almost kindly.

If they had of looked down at their wrists they would have seen that their handcuffs were now only a very pale golden colour, they were not far away from being separated it seemed.

Using their wands, Harry was able to due to his use of magic, being under the supervision of a teacher they were able to move the rather large tree and the box of decorations.

They managed to land the stuff in the middle of the living room, ready to start setting up.

"So what's next?" Harry asked.

"We might as well start putting up the tree now; we can do the decorations afterwards when we decorate the house and the tree at the same time". Snape replied.

With only a little difficulty the two were able to put up the tree. Harry marveled at how easy magic made Christmas. He had several memories of Uncle Vernon trying to put up the tree on more then one occasion and due to his rather large body, over balanced on the ladder and hit the ground with a thump, breaking an ankle on one occasion. He remembered Petunia saying that even in one of the most scariest moments of Vernon's life, he was able to glide to the bottom gracefully and land like an angel. Harry just laughed, Vernon had the aerodynamics of a boulder and not even Dudley was convinced of this so called 'grace'.

"Um, Professor, I think we have a problem…" Harry started.

"What do you mean? The tree looks okay to me?"

"No, not the tree, the tree looks good but how are we meant to put the decorations up? With a ladder it's going to be rather difficult to put up the decorations when one of us is attached to the other by the wrist". Harry said.

Snape nodded in agreement and then looked at the tree. Thinking about what they could do to accomplish the job. They couldn't't just ignore it and come back to when they were separated, he was sure that Ava had suggested this job as a way of proving they could work together to break the chain that linked the two of them together.

"If we work together as a team and somehow use each others weight and strength, we should be able to put up these decorations, but this could be a very frustrating and possibly painful experience". Snape stated.

"Well, I'm in, this could be fun actually". Harry said.

Harry was not sure what he had gotten himself into, so far he had fallen off the ladder six times, been landed on by Snape five times and had banged his knee on the ladder twice, he was not having a good day. He also theorized that if this was a movie, the music playing right now would be something along the lines of those happy upbeat songs that just poke fun at what is happening, the song _Chumbawumba _sprung to mind with the lines "I get knocked down, but I get up again, you ain't never gonna keep me down" would definitely have been a suitable tune with all the falling down and climbing back up again they were doing.

Harry was standing on one side of the ladder with Snape just down to one side behind him. They were trying to climb the ladder at the same time, each using each other to help balance and having to share the use of the one hand. Harry started to sing the popular song and within about three seconds of his commencement and the duo's attempt to move their feet to change rungs on the ladder, they overbalanced and came crashing down to earth.

"Man I hate gravity! It's God's way of playing with people who just want to climb ladders to put up Christmas decorations; do you honestly think that he ever thought about the consequences of his actions? Maybe he likes watching us fall down that or there really is a reality TV show recording us…do you reckon they can help us put up these decorations? Maybe we should ask God, he is apparently meant to be quite the friendly guy when it comes to helping people and the reason we are in this predicament is because he got one of his mortal concubines pregnant, it's all God's fault!" Whined Harry, going from one random thought to the next.

"Again with the reality T.V show! There is no reality television crew in my house Potter; there are limits as to how far I am willing to let Professor Dumbledore's absurd little game go. As for the God comment…Do you honestly think that was high on his list of priorities when he created the earth? Now on a different note, how are we going to put up these decorations without breaking our necks or something even more painful?" Snape replied with one eye brow raised.

The two of them sat there glumly looking into their hands and thinking about what they could do to put up the decorations and accomplish the task that the pesky house elf had set them. Then Snape looked at, in a cartoon a light bulb lightning up would have appeared above his head, but as this is reality, that did not happen.

"Harry, I have an idea, the only thing is, it's going to take a bit of time and a lot of team work if this is to work". Snape said, with an almost smile etched upon his face.

Harry gulped, when Snape smiled, there was a reason to be afraid, very afraid.

"Okay, this is what we are going to do. As you are shorter then me you get on the ladder first and put your hands and feet where you would if you were not attached to me". Snape waited for Harry to do as he said before continuing in his instructions. "Now I am going to come up behind you and stand on the rung below yours with the hand joining yours over yours and my free hand above yours." Snape finished.

Harry turned his head around to face Snape. His brain felt like he had just imploded. The instructions that Snape had delivered sounded very similar to the ones that had had explained how to dance for the Yule Ball.

Snape sighed, "Just follow me Potter and everything will be fine".

Together the two of them slowly and awkwardly made there way up the tree, Harry's spare hand was used to hold the box of decorations. He felt rather uncomfortable with this entire arrangement, even though he was not homophobic he did not like Snape in such lose proximity to his person, but he could also sense in the way that Snape was moving behind him that he felt the same way as he was trying his best to reduce even the most accidental of contact between their bodies.

At last they reached the top of the tree; triumphantly they faced each other and with broad grins basked in the glory of accomplishment.

"Go on, put her up", Snape said motioning toward the angel in the decorations box.

With a smile Harry did just that and the two proceeded to move down the tree, using each other to put decorations up and becoming more and more prolific in the way in which they put up the decorations.

Ava watched smiling as the two of them worked together, they were talking, not just about the task ahead, but about little things, discussing who was the better house, Gryffindor or Slytherin and if the Chudley Cannons really had a chance that year. Seems like they had broken the ice, acting more like friends then mortal enemies.

Then a voice started to come from the slowly fading handcuffs.

_You have let each other into your heart_

_For that you have earned the right to be apart_

With a pop suddenly the handcuffs that had held the pair prisoner for what felt like an eternity was nothing more then a distant memory. Harry was so happy he could have done a back flip.

"As much as I enjoyed the company Snape, it is a good feeling to be able to get away from you". Harry said.

"The feeling is mutual Potter, now shall we continue with out task before that pest who is supposedly a servant of mine decides to punish us for laziness as well?"

Author's Note: Sorry that took so long people, but with Christmas and New Years and all that it has been mad at my place so I haven't had a lot of time to write. Anyway hope you enjoyed this chapter, for those of you who are wondering when this will end, never fear my dears, the end is almost near. Ha, I am a poet as well! Anyway hope you all a lovely Christmas and a safe New Years and I am expecting lots and lots of REVIEWS (a review is when you press that button at the end of a chapter in the bottom and write something constructive or anything you really want and it makes me REALLY happy, consider it a Christmas present) because they really make my time not feel wasted. Anyway, take the hint and REVIEW.


	19. Shopping for Snape

Well despite the lack of attention from the last chapter I am still writing so here is the new one.

Shopping for Snape

Harry was standing in the middle of Diagon Alley wondering what to do. He had been allowed by Snape and Ava to do his Christmas shopping alone since the whole point of giving gifts at Christmas was to be surprised, pleasantly of course. He was enjoying his new found freedom and also the lack of animosity that he had found with Snape. Since they had been separated almost a week ago they had managed to maintain a relationship at an acceptable level according to Ava. The only thing was that he had been so busy trying to get to know this new Snape that he hadn't been able to go to the shops to get Christmas presents for his friends, so here he was, on Christmas Eve trying to think about what to get for those that meant the most to him.

Snape and Harry hadn't exactly been having a lot of heart to heart talks about themselves, but Harry was starting to learn little things about him, like how he loved avocado and honey sandwiches and couldn't stand long toe nails on men or women. Snape was starting to lower his guard down a little around him which Ava thought was great progress, especially from their complete lack of trust at the start of Harry's stay.

Ron and Hermione were pretty easy as were Mr and Mrs Weasley, he had decided on getting them a Christmas hamper which they could share with the entire family at their Christmas lunch. But he did not know what to get for Snape and Ava. What do you get for a house elf and a possibly depressed Potions Master? He had thought about trying to hire Snape a prostitute, possibly some of his misery could be attributed to the fact that he is possibly sexually deprived and takes out his sexual frustrations on his students, but not in a kinky way of course. Harry had decided against getting him a prostitute though, he did not think that Ava would look upon a woman in a box in lingerie to kindly. Besides, how would you wrap up a fully grown woman anyway? Would you just buy a really big box or just ask her to sit under the Christmas with a big bow around her waist? So many decisions to be made when buying a simple gift.

He went to the book shop like he did every year for Hermione. He could always find something that appealed to her there. He looked at the shelves, trying to find a book that would appeal to Hermione, he found it after looking for about ten minutes, and it was called _Auror's Handguide to Everything. _Hermione wanted to be an Auror and this book was definitely suitable for her, he actually thought that he would borrow it off her after she finished, the way she read, which would be before New Year's.

Ron was easy to buy for; Harry had already planned his present. Harry found a book that on the outside had the title _History of a Sport: Exploring Quidditch _while actually being a one inch thick book that had a lot of very interesting pictures and articles about women, if you know what I mean, it was every wizards dream. Harry thought about getting one for Snape, but he wasn't sure how Snape would take that, even though they were in a better relationship then they had been a month ago, he was still not sure that it was the appropriate thing to give to Snape, especially considering he was a teacher.

He sat down on a bench near the street and tried to think about what he was going to do about him and Ava. Many thoughts went through his head. He thought about something to do with potions, like a book on the history of potions or a biography on a famous potions maker. He liked the idea about a biography on a famous Potion's Master, but he couldn't think of one, he thought maybe he should listen more in class instead of trying to mess up Ron's potions.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here? It's a Potter without his faithful clan of blood traitors and mudbloods," came a familiar voice from just behind him.

Harry looked up to see the face of none other the Draco Malfoy, possibly the only person on the planet that he despised more then Snape.

"Go away Malfoy, don't you have some small children to steal candy off? Since that's all your capable of," replied Harry.

"Small children don't interest me Potter. Unlike you, I prefer a bit more of a challenge, but for some reason I am instead wasting my time with you. I should try tormenting little kids because you and trio of dweebs are just too easy!" Draco smoothly replied.

Harry paused for a second, digesting what the blonde boy had just said to him, he realised that he had been insulted and started to reply.

"You want a challenge Malfoy? I'll give you more then a challenge, but I wouldn't want to see someone like you crying on the street. It would make me feel rather ill". Harry said with a small smile.

"You think I would cry Potter? I'm not the one who cried in front of the entire school when Cedric Diggory died. Everyone thought it was so cute, little Harry Potter crying his eyes out because someone he didn't even like had just died and there you were making a complete fool of yourself, by crying on Cedric's chest, like he was your lover!" sneered Malfoy.

"Wow Malfoy, you really are the king of insults by saying that I am gay. There are a bunch of first years' that may congratulate you, but do you really think that with something like that you are really going to hurt my feelings? Maybe you haven't realised but people our age are no longer so offended by that, so come up with some new material Malfoy." Retorted Harry.

Malfoy stood there, stunned, not sure what had just happened.

"Whatever Potter, you'll just go back home to your mummy and cry tonight, I know what you are like. Oh I'm sorry, I forgot you don't have a mother do you? Well go home and cry on the weasel's shoulder, or how about the mudbloods." Malfoy said cruelly.

"Actually I am living with Snape at the moment". Harry said, not sure why he brought the subject up.

"Why the hell are you living with my Godfather? What has he done wrong and being punished so cruelly for?" Malfoy said, starting to sound a bit concerned.

"Don't you remember? We met at the picnic. Dumbledore decided that since we didn't get along and because it was causing so many problems at Hogwarts that we should spend more time together to work out our problems, we bicker and argue a lot like just like you and I…", Harry said, trailing of as he realised what he was saying and by the look on Malfoy's face it had also dawned on him.

"I'm sorry Potter for what I said. Oh please Dumbledore, don't make me spend time with him as well, I won't ever say anything again." Malfoy said, his face a mask of anguish as is thinking about what could happen.

Malfoy walked off, mumbling about how sorry he was and how he would never do anything to Harry again.

Harry watched him go. The thought of living with Harry must have been too much for Malfoy, he seemed to be almost catatonic, wandering off like something incredibly shocking had been done to him.

Harry went back to thinking about what he was going to do about a present for Snape. Then it dawned on him what would be a suitable present. Snape since he was a student, he had always had an interest in the Dark Arts. Harry thought that he could probably find something that Snape would like, but he also thought that he wanted something a little more personal that, something that would show Snape that he understood him as a person.

He went down the street and found a store that sold Dark Art orientated objects. As he walked in a very evil looking man stood there eye balling him. Harry hurried towards the section that was laden with books. He started looking through the titles and started to feel a bit insecure looking at them. Even though the evil of Voldemort was, the evil of these books was still more then alive. Harry looked at titles that just seemed sinister: _Mastering the Dark Arts: Twenty Ways to Make Those You Hate Pay _and _How to Not Get Caught _were just a few of the nicer titles that he could find. Harry considered a few of them, but on looking through them decided that he did not want to be on the receiving end of any of the spells, some were just plain sadistic like the spell that involved the recipient having their body literally turned inside out in a very painful process that was even more painful to reverse.

He eventually settled on a more pleasant sounding book that related to the Dark Arts called _The Complete Guide to the Dark Arts _which covered everything from the history of the Dark Arts and biographies on famous masters of it to how to defend you against spells and creatures of the dark. Harry thought this would be perfect for a man who was interested in the Dark Arts and wished to one day teach the subject.

But he was not yet finished with his Christmas shopping for Snape. There was something else that he wanted to get for him, something that should have been given to Snape a long time ago. He found a newsagent that sold those small books that are about ten centimeters long and about five centimeters wide. He found the title he was looking for _Grief: How to Deal with it. _From what he could work out Snape had not yet gotten over the loss of his wife or the death of Lily and was still grieving and was also blaming himself for both their deaths.

Harry already had Ava's gift out. He originally thought about something to do with torture, since that is what she had put him through or buying her a spanking paddle to go with those handcuffs she conjured up but he decided to settle on something else. He found a clothing boutique that sold clothing for dwarf community. He felt kind of silly walking into a store for people that only just came to his knees, when Ava was quite a bit taller; being half human she came up to about hit height. On walking in he realised that he was in the wrong kind of shop. Ava was quite slender and tall compared to a gnome or a dwarf so he decided to get out of the shop.

He found a boutique that sold clothing for children and immediately realised that he had found the right place for his house elf. He knew that Ava wore pretty much the same thing day in and day out, just an old house dress that had little to no shape to it. Snape had told him that he normally gets her clothing, he actually made a joke once to Ava apparently saying that he gave her clothing constantly because he was hoping that she would get the hint and leave his house, though Ava and Harry both knew that Snape would be even more lonely and grumpy if his one companion was to leave and also that he would probably starve as he had never had to cook for himself before, he always had his mother or the school elves that prepared his meals for him.

He selected a couple of nice outfits for her, some nice summery dresses as well as a much warmer tracksuit that she could wear as the days got colder as the season went further into winter. He also got her a new pair of slippers as her old ones were falling apart and some slip on black shoes that she could just wear when she was doing house work.

He looked at what he had purchased for his friends and house companions and seemed satisfied with what he had. He then prepared himself to apparate back to the house. He had learned how to apparate that year and after many embarrassing attempts, he had ended up in the girl's bathroom on one occasion and on another he had found himself on the chandelier in the Great Hall he had finally mastered it.

With a small pop, he and his bag of presents arrived in the grounds of Snape Manor. He walked into the house; the key was just to say the password by looking at the gargoyle. He made his way into the house to be greeted by Ava.

"Harry! How did the Christmas shopping go for you?" Ava asked, smiling.

"Yeah, it was all right, I just have to wrap them though". Harry replied.

"I though you would have to do that, so I left some 'Easy Wrap' wrapping paper in your room and some wizard Greeting Cards that you can use. When you are finished, put them under the tree so that everything is ready for tomorrow".

Harry went up to his room and wrapped his presents. The 'Easy Wrap' was surprisingly easy to use. 'Easy Wrap' is just paper that when a gift is put on it, it wraps itself perfectly and without wastage and incredibly neatly. He sent Hermione and Ron's presents along with a large Christmas hamper that he had bought for the Weasley with Hedwig. She would probably have to make a couple of trips, the presents were quite heavy but she needed the exercise. He just hoped that he would get a letter or something from them.

He bundled up his gifts and went down the stairs and into the room that held the Christmas tree. Underneath the tree were only a couple of presents. He felt suddenly saddened, reminded again about the lonely and secluded life that Snape and Ava lead.

He placed the remaining presents under the tree and resisted the urge to look at the other presents under. He was curious of Ava or Snape had thought about him. He then thought he was just being greedy, he had after all spent quite a bit of time at their house and had eaten their food.

He went upstairs to go amuse himself before dinner. He couldn't wait for Christmas the next day.

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­A/N: Well this is the latest chapter and is also going to be one of the last ones, so please review. I know I am getting a bit slow when it comes to updating, but I've been really busy with stuff but never fear! I will not leave it unfinished, as that annoys me so much in a good story. Thanks guys and REVIEW!! (And to all you Aussies, happy Australia Day).


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